CIRCUS & RIDE ELEPHANT INCIDENTS
March 26, 1950: Dolly the circus elephant paid with her life for killing a 5-year-old boy. At the Sarasota, Florida
winter quarters of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus, Dolly snatched Edwin Rogers Schooley from the side
of his horrified parents and crushed his head with one of her ponderous feet. Three days later Dolly was led into a pit.
Despite protests from animal lovers all over the nation and from several zoos that wanted her, the 27-year-old elephant
was given a huge dose of cyanide. According to newspaper reports, Dolly crumpled quickly in death and the pit was
filled in over her huge body.
Late 1980: A 1,500 pound baby elephant gored to death an animal handler who had prodded her with an axe handle.
The 3-1/2-year-old African, a female named Charlie, pinned William David Sharp against the side of her plywood pen.
The elephant gored Sharp at least twice in the abdomen with her four-inch tusks, puncturing his aorta. Sharp was
pronounced death at the hospital. "The animal was being harassed and he was just protecting himself," said metro-Dade
County homicide detective Woody Geisler.
May 13, 1982: In Sallisaw, Oklahoma, five elephants bolted from the Carson and Barnes Circus while employees were
preparing to move their equipment for another show. The elephants ran toward a coal pit and plunged off a 25-foot
ledge. One of the male elephants was crushed to death. The four other elephants were eventually recaptured.
May 25, 1983: In Atlantic City, New Jersey, an elephant, Frieda, owned by Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus
seriously injured John Marshall of Mystic Islands. The man had tried to pet a lion when circus employees chased him
away. He then went to the elephant's holding area and blew into Frieda's trunk; she grabbed him and threw him. Mr.
Marshall suffered multiple trauma and several broken bones but survived the incident.
See incidents: July 7, 1985; March 16, 1995; July 10, 1995.
1983: Leonard "Hoxie" Tucker, owner of the Hoxie Brothers Circus of Miami (now-defunct) was attacked by a 4-ton
elephant named Janet. Mr. Tucker spent over 100 days in a hospital. The debilitating injuries forced him to sell his
show and animals-including Janet-to the Sarasota-based Great American Circus.
July 18, 1983: Diana Migala, a Chicago radio station manager, crashed to the street while riding an elephant during a
race billed as the "Pachyderm 500," a promotion for a circus performance. She was injured and hospitalized.
See incident: February 1, 1992
July 24, 1983: An Asian elephant, Misty, broke free from her chains at Lion Country Safari in Irvine, California. Head
game warden Lee Keaton, apparently was attempting to put a chain around the elephant's leg when she turned on him,
crushing his skull and killing him instantly. (Misty had attacked a handler, David Wilson, just three weeks earlier. The
handler survived.)
After Keaton was killed, Misty managed to run off the property, causing an evacuation of a nearby swap meet and a
massive traffic jam on a nearby freeway. Misty was loose for three hours before being recaptured. At the time the
elephant was owned by Gentle Jungle, a company that supplied animals for movies and television. Misty is now at
Hawthorne Corporation giving rides to children.
July 7, 1985: In New London, Connecticut, in the New London Mall parking lot where the Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers
Circus was set up, a spectator, Joan Scovell, entered the pen of an elephant. Frieda, in an attempt to ride her. Scovell
was killed. According to the police and medical examiner's reports, her death was caused by the elephant crushing her
chest.
See incidents: May 25, 1983; March 16, 1995; July 10, 1995.
July 1, 1987: A performance of the Great American Circus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was halted after a ride elephant,
Irene, broke from her trainer and injured two children riding on her back.
Lawsuit filed and settled.
September 14, 1987: In Gunnedah, Australia, the Ashton Circus elephant Abu knocked down a horse groom and then
crushed him to death just prior to a performance. The show went on as planned.
March 1, 1988: In Quebec, Canada, a Shrine Circus elephant severely injured her trainer while he led her into the ring.
All of the trainers ribs were broken, and he also suffered serious internal injuries.
February 4, 1989: In Fort Myers, Florida, Kelly/Janet, a ride elephant, broke loose from a traveling petting zoo at the
Southwest Florida Fair, tore through a crowded midway and plunged into a lake with three terrified riders aboard, one
of them a four-year-old child. At least eight people were sent to local hospitals with injuries when the elephant bolted.
After the elephant plunged into the midway lake, spilling its riders, the animal jumped from the water and lumbered
onward, crashing into more concession stands. An elephant caretaker managed to grab a chest strap, slow the elephant
down and guide her back to the corral.
Lawsuits filed.
April 7, 1990: An African elephant from Marine World Africa USA, who was being ridden at an open house
celebration near Oakdale, California, became spooked and threw passengers. The elephant began spinning and bumped
into several cars before handlers could bring her under control. One passenger, Laura Armabel, fell and was dragged
about 40 feet before she became disengaged. She required stitches but was not hospitalized.
June 1, 1990: An elephant working with the Great American Circus in Reading, Pennsylvania, went on a rampage,
attacked a trainer and charged a crowd of about 1,000.
June 21, 1990: Startled by a passing car, a 6,400-pound elephant, Carol, stumbled while being led to a circus
appearance and fell on her handler, who was crushed to death as the animal struggled to get back on her feet. David
Dickerson, a lifelong circus worker, died by the time the rescue helicopter reached the hospital.
February 1, 1992: In Palm Bay, Florida, a 27-year-old Asian elephant, Janet (aka Kelly, of the Great American
Circus), carrying two children and an adult on her back, went wild before a circus performance, trying to stomp a
police officer and pull down bleachers where spectators were sitting. The 10,000 pound elephant rampaged through the
circus grounds, sending six people to the hospital. Unable to get Janet under control, officers shot at Janet/Kelly for
over 15 minutes until a man arrived with bullet casings large enough to finish the job.
Numerous lawsuits resulted in this accident, including those filed by spectators and police involved in the shooting.
Several were settled outside of court.
April 21, 1993: A female elephant, Tyke, charged through an arena entry way in Altoona, Pennsylvania, during a Great
American Circus performance at the Jaffa Mosque, and ripped away part of a wall, causing about $10,000 in damage.
The Circus claimed the episode began when a groom walked behind the elephant. Tyke ran out on an upstairs balcony
and was later coaxed back in by trainers. Over 3,000 children were in the audience. According to legal sources, a young
girl suffered a sprained ankle trying to escape the melee.
Her parents made a $2,000.00 cash settlement with the Hawthorn Corporation.
See incidents: July 23, 1993; August 20, 1994.
May 5, 1993: Axel Gautier, one of the best-known elephant trainers in the world, was crushed to death when an
elephant stepped on him at the Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey elephant farm in Gainesville, Florida. Gautier was
standing with three elephants in a corral when a 24-year-old female Asian elephant suddenly knocked him down and
stepped on him. The circus veterinarian was standing nearby.
1993: In 1993, PAWS documented the shooting death of a bull elephant, Tommy, of the King Royal circus. According
to the testimony of former King Royal circus employee, Aaron Nicole, the elephant was surreptitiously shot and
clandestinely buried because none of the elephant handlers at King Royal could control or load him. PAWS has video
testimony of Nicole describing the incident.
June 5, 1993: A 22-year-old man, Christopher Ponte, was crushed to death after walking into a group of elephants at
the Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus at the Fishkill Mall in Fishkill, New York. Prior to this incident; the USDA
cited the Beatty-Cole Circus four times between February, 1992 and January, 1993, for not providing adequate security
for their elephants. A violation of section 2.131(b)(1) which states: "during public exhibition. . . sufficient distance
and/or barriers between the animal and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of animals and the public."
According to an inspection report dated 2/21/92 the USDA inspector reported, "Numerous people were observed
walking through the area. There is not sufficient amount of security personnel to monitor the traffic."
July 23, 1993: Tyke, an African elephant ran amok again on the first day of the North Dakota State Fair in Minot,
North Dakota. The rampage began when she escaped from her trainer and trampled a groom, Mike Pursley, crushing
three of his ribs. Trainer Tyrone Taylor pulled Tyke off the groom before he could be trampled to death. Tyke then
escaped again from Taylor and led trainers and sheriff's deputies on a 25-minute chase through the fair's midway before
being recaptured. The Illinois-based company, Hawthorn Corporation, provided Tyke and is the source of other
elephants provided to various circuses and for rides.
September 2, 1993: Radio personality Scott Stuart was posing for a publicity photograph atop a young elephant when
the animal suddenly "stampeded wildly across a crowded public area...crashed through a wooden fence and threw
Stuart onto a cement path." According to the Oakland Tribune, this elephant had been used to give rides to children at
the Park and continues to perform in shows at Marine World, Africa USA in California.
Stuart sued the Park for the injuries he suffered and, in 1995 was awarded $600,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
See incidents: April 21, 1993; August 20, 1994.
October 1, 1993: In October, 1993, an eight-year-old elephant, "Joy," was found dead in a trailer at King Royal Circus.
Dr. Edward Murray reported that he "noted an approximately 3,500 pound elephant lying in the front compartment of a
red gooseneck trailer. Respiratory effort and cardiac function appeared to have ceased." A postmortem was not
performed.
April 4, 1994: In Salt Lake City, Utah, an elephant, Sue, was giving rides to children at the Jordan Brothers Circus. As
hundreds of spectators watched, Sue lifted her trainer Rex Williams with her trunk, tossed him to the ground, and
stepped on him. Williams suffered a broken arm, four broken ribs, and internal injuries. Williams had been training
elephants for 55 years. According to the circus, the 6,000-pound Asian elephant attacked Williams after he "bumped
into her." Another trainer stepped in, but the elephant kicked her and broke her finger. A third trainer gained control of
the animal and removed the children from the elephant's back. The children, ages 4 and 5, were miraculously unhurt.
The circus was in town to raise money for the Utah Law Enforcement Coalition.
See incident: June 14, 1996.
June 29, 1994: In Louisville, Kentucky, an 8,000-pound circus elephant who had been ridden by thousands of people
at the Louisville Zoo attacked a visitor, Troy Ramsey; picked him up, smashed him to the ground and tried to gore him
with her tusks. Ramsey's injuries resulted in the loss of his spleen and 2/3 of his pancreas. He sued zoo authorities, the
elephant's owners, and the elephant's handler for losing control of Kenya, a female African elephant. "You can't keep
an elephant pent up in chains and expect it to be right in the head," said Ramsey. "It must be a private hell for them."
Lawsuit settled-Ramsey collected from Peter Luvas, the circus trainer, Louisville Zoo, and the city of Louisville,
Kentucky.
See incident: April 15, 1998
July 18, 1994: A woman was attacked by a spooked elephant in a Manhattan television studio moments before the
"Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" show was to begin. Yelena Aleynickov, a Russian translator, was rushed to the
hospital after the elephant repeatedly smashed her head into Yelena's body and head, pinning her to the wall. Flora, a
12-year-old African elephant who performs with the Great Moscow Circus, fractured Aleynickov's skull, broke her
ribs, punctured a lung, fractured the orbit of her eye, and caused bruises and cuts on her head, face, and body, Flora also
broke down a door and caused considerable damage to the studio. Afterward, the elephant still made an appearance on
the show.
A $5-million lawsuit has been filed by the victim against the Great Moscow Circus, ABC, and the "Live with Regis and
Kathie Lee" show. Settled for $1.65 million in June of 1998.
July 22, 1994: In Copenhagen, Denmark, an hysterical bull elephant ran amok at a Danish Circus, trampling and
injuring two people and rampaging through a small town. The 3-ton Asian elephant, Siam, crashed out of the big top
and seized a man, lifting him into the air before rampaging through the harbor area. The elephant eventually returned to
join his three mates and was later destroyed by lethal injection. A trainer was hospitalized and treated for multiple
fractures.
August 4, 1994: A family in Laie, Hawaii alleged that two family members were injured when an elephant, Tyke, at
the Circus International knocked a metal barrier into the family, pinning them to the bleachers and injuring a father and
his daughter.
Suits were filed against Hawthorn Corporation and John Cuneo, owner of the elephant and also against Ralph
Yempuku, the circus promoter.
August 20, 1994: In Honolulu, Hawaii, during a Circus International performance, the elephant Tyke crushed her
trainer, Allen Campbell, to death before hundreds of horrified spectators at the Neal Blaisdell arena. During the
episode, Tyke mauled a groom Dallas Beckwith, who suffered serious injuries. After killing Campbell and injuring
Beckwith, Tyke bolted from the arena and raged through the downtown area for half an hour. Police fired 86 shots in
their pursuit of Tyke; she eventually collapsed from her wounds. Finally, she was given a lethal injection to kill her.
When that didn't work, police fired three more shots to end her life. Tyke had gone on two similar rampages in 1993 in
Pennsylvania and in North Dakota.
See incidents: April 21, 1993; July 23, 1993.
Lawsuits against circus officials, the City and State, and the Hawthorn Corporation (John Cuneo) were settled out of
court. Officials at the Denver Zoo confirmed that trainer Campbell was the target of complaints in the late 1980's that
he abused zoo elephants while running an elephant and camel ride concession in Denver.
August 27, 1994: A 5,000-pound elephant was frightened but apparently unharmed after the trailer she was riding in
was involved in an accident on a Milwaukee, Wisconsin highway. The elephant, Luella, was being taken from a
company picnic back to her home at Jo-Don Farms. The truck pulling the elephant's trailer slammed into the back of a
slow-moving car. The trailer had jack knifed after the impact, struck the side of a semi-tractor trailer. Two men
received minor injuries in the accident.
October 21, 1994: Kay, a 60-year-old elephant with the Carson and Barnes Circus died while on tour with the circus.
Kay had failed to eat or drink anything for several days. She had a history of problems suffering a kidney infection for
about a year. According to reports, Kay "just keeled over." No autopsy was done.
October 25, 1994: In a small town in Kansas, a young bull elephant, Mickey, wrapped his trunk around 3-year-old
girl's neck and attempted to pull her to him. She was rescued by a circus worker and rushed to the hospital. Mickey was
traveling with the King Royal Circus, which was being investigated for animal cruelty and violations of the Animal
Welfare Act at the time of the attack. Just weeks prior to this incident, trainer Bela Tabak was videotaped beating
Mickey during a performance of King Royal in Lebanon, Oregon. The video tape showed a 3-year-old Mickey being
beaten and stabbed repeatedly with a sharp bull hook after refusing to perform a trick. Numerous witnesses came
forward to report that they had seen Tabak beat and choke Mickey in Lebanon and Bend, Oregon and also in Cornelius,
Washington.
Lawsuit has been filed by the child's family.
February 6, 1995: In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a Tarzan Zerbini Circus employee was loading six elephants at the
Coliseum when he allegedly slipped and fell, and was stepped on by an elephant. The worker, Danny Rosenborough,
suffered a crushed pelvis and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Rosenborough filed suit in Allen Superior Court for medical bills, lost wages and severe pain and suffering.
March 15, 1995: In Bangkok, Thailand, a 20-year-old elephant, "Jockey," star of the Jockey Circus, trampled to death
the show's owner and his son, shortly before the show opened at an elementary school. The elephant was killed when
chloroform bullets failed to stop him from charging the crowd.
March 16, 1995: In Hanover, Pennsylvania, an impatient driver's honking horn allegedly spooked a line of circus
elephants at the Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus outside the North Hanover Mall, causing a near riot that left
windows smashed, cars dented and one elephant injured. Elephants Debbie and Frieda simply walked away from the
line of elephants and lumbered through the crowded parking lot, damaged several parked vehicles, and crashed through
a large plate glass window at a Sears Auto Service Center. The cost of damages exceeded $20,000. Four months later
Frieda and Debbie rampaged again at another Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus performance causing panic among
spectators with twelve persons injured. Frieda injured John Marshall, killed Joan Scovell, 47, of New London,
Connecticut in 1985, and Christopher Ponte, 22, of Fishkill, N.Y. in 1993.
See incidents: May 25, 1983; July 7, 1985; July 10, 1995.
July 10, 1995: In Queens, New York, during the opening night performance of the Clyde-Beatty Cole Brothers Circus
at the Forest Park Bandshell parking lot, an elephant, Debbie, bumped into an elephant, Frieda, who was next to her in
a 9-elephant chain. The two elephants scuffled, upsetting all the elephants and setting off a panic among spectators who
began running. Twelve people were injured. Debbie and Frieda bolted out of the entrance to the tent and smashed a
parked car in their attempt to make a path out of the lot. Finally, placed in chains, the elephants were herded back to
their pen and the show continued without them. Frieda and Debbie had run amok in Pennsylvania two months earlier
and Frieda is also blamed for the 1985 and 1993 deaths and injuries of three spectators at the circus. Lawsuit filed.
See incidents: May 25, 1983; July 7, 1985; March 16, 1995.
August 28, 1995: Stoney, a 22-year old Asian elephant, was injured while performing hind leg stands at the Luxor
Hotel in Las Vegas, N.V., in September 1994. He was unable to walk so he was put into a dumpster and wheeled out to
a maintenance shed behind the hotel. He did not receive immediate veterinary care and was kept upright inside a
mechanical cattle crush in a dark room. In August 1995 hotel staff and the trainer attempted to move Stoney. During
the attempt to release him from the mechanical device that was keeping him upright , he fell injuring his other back leg.
He was euthanized later that day.
November 1, 1995: An elephant trainer in Rome, Italy with the Togni Circus was killed by one of their Asian
elephants. The elephants had been purchased by Togni from Bennewels, a Danish Circus. The Togni Circus elephants
are often used by Ringling Bros. Circus in the USA.
December 7, 1995: In Cairo, Egypt, a ride elephant at the Cairo Zoo trampled a caretaker to death. The 64-year-old
caretaker was giving Nadia her breakfast when she picked him up with her trunk, threw him to the ground, and stepped
on him. Other zoo workers tried to rescue the keeper but were unable to help him.
January 1, 1996: A high school principal in Comfort, Texas was injured when he was thrown from a King Royal
circus elephant during an elephant ride promotion. The victim, Jerry Boyd, suffered two broken ribs and experienced
arm and wrist injuries. A possible explanation for the elephant's behavior, said one handler, was that there was a meat
processing plant across the highway from the circus location.
Early 1996: A 39-year-old elephant named Kitty attacked her trainer, Jeanot Blanchet, while he was preparing her for
elephant rides at a small zoo in Quebec, Canada. Kitty, who is owned by African Lion Safari, had been at the facility
for ten years. Prior to that she had lived at Canada's Granby Zoo. Although no aggressive behavior had been observed
during her time at African Lion Safari, Kitty did have a history of aggression stemming from her days at Granby.
March 30, 1996: A 2-year-old elephant kept by a resort hotel as a tourist attraction died of malnutrition, the director of
an elephant hospital said. Yooyee, a young female elephant, died at the hospital in Lampang, Thailand.
June 1, 1996: A circus elephant named Frieda slapped a boy and knocked him to the ground during a circus
appearance in the northern Chilean town of Iquique. The boy, 10-year-old Rodiguo Silva, died later in the hospital of
multiple skull traumas.
June 14, 1996: An Asian circus elephant, Sue, giving rides to children knocked down and repeatedly kicked one of her
trainers at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds. One child fell off the elephant. Other trainers regained control of the
animal, but not before the elephant kicked the trainer so badly that she had to go to the hospital. Assistant elephant
trainer Terry Wire said a horse spooked the elephant, causing her to jump into the trainer who was beside it adjusting
the children's position on the elephant. An eyewitness said the elephant charged the trainer and knocked her down. The
trainer then rolled into a ball and the elephant started kicking her. The trainer stood up once, but the animal knocked
her down again. Sue was performing with the Jordan World Circus and is currently owned by John Cuneo. She is the
same ride elephant who attacked a trainer in Salt Lake City in 1994.
See incident: April 4, 1994.
August 1, 1996: Two elephants traveling with Circus Vargas died within 3 days of each other. Autopsies determined
that Joyce and Hattie, two Asian elephants, died of tuberculosis, a disease which is contagious and transmittable to
humans. Despite obvious health problems, both elephants were performing and giving rides to children until their
death. Joyce and Hattie were leased from the Hawthorn Corporation.
January 3, 1997: The elephant Ola with the Clyde-Beatty-Cole Brothers' Circus died at the Beatty-Cole winter
headquarters in Deland, Florida. The exact date of her death is not known. According to reports from keepers, Ola was
tranquilized so that work could be done on her feet. She "went down" and was down for 28-29 hours before she finally
died.
April 14, 1997: A 26-year-old Asian elephant, Jan, injured a groom before a performance of the Al Azher Shrine
Circus in Calgary, Canada. The groom, Joe Lawson, was bitten on the bead and back by the elephant in her small
concrete pen at Canadian Airlines Saddledome. According to the Calgary Herald, the circus manager "reviewed the
incident" and "dismissed it as a normal hazard of the business and allowed Jan to keep her spot with the performing
elephant quartet." The Shriners and Circus Maximus, the Shriners' contractors, were "so confident about the elephant's
disposition," said the paper, that they "allowed two of the elephants (not including Jan) to be used by post-show kiddy
rides."
August 6, 1997: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, police were investigating a suspicious looking trailer in a hotel parking
lot. The trailer belonged to King Royal Circus and inside they found nearly a dozen exotic animals, including eight
llamas and three elephants. One of the elephants, an eight-year-old African, Heather, was dead, apparently of heat
prostration. According to investigators, the truck was poorly ventilated, with only two small air holes; the temperature
in the truck was approximately 120 degrees. Policemen at the scene said that "nothing with a heartbeat should have
been inside that truck."
According to Albuquerque Biological Park Director, Ray Darnell, Heather weighed 2,400 pounds when she died. A
healthy elephant at that age should have weighed at least 4,000 pounds. It was later determined that Heather died of a
salmonella infection, aggravated by stress.
August 28, 1997: A female African elephant, Cally, who was leased for elephant rides for the summer to the Wild
Animal Kingdom in York Beach, Maine-ran away from her trainer during a morning exercise routine in a wooded area.
Another elephant, Tonya, who was accompanying the trainer, ran in pursuit of Cally through the woods and onto the
beach. The two elephants were apprehended in the beachfront yard of a local resident and taken back to the zoo. Both
elephants are owned by Bret Bronson of Zoomotion.
See incident: February 15, 1998 involving Tonya.
January 24, 1998: A 3-year-old baby Asian elephant, Kenny, traveling with the Ringling Brothers' Circus died in
South Carolina. Kenny, who reportedly died of a "viral infection," was one month into a demanding tour of
performances with Ringling Brothers. Ringling agreed to pay $20,000 as part of a consent decision reached in July
1998 with the USDA. The money is to be divided between a nonprofit sanctuary for elephants and an organization or
institution that conducts research relating to gastrointestinal or infection diseases in elephants.
February 15, 1998: Police in Mentor, Ohio chased Tonya, an elephant who had escaped from a circus performance at
Mentor High School. Tonya's trainer says the elephant panicked after another elephant squeezed her against a wall in a
hallway of the school. Tonya knocked her assistant trainer to the ground before opening a door with her trunk and
fleeing the building. The elephant galloped a quarter mile through open areas before stopping in a parking lot where her
trainer caught up with her.
April 15, 1998: A 13-year-old performing African elephant was dead after she was found prostrate and injured 24
hours earlier in her enclosure at an English circus wintering depot. Concerns about Kenya's fate increased when it was
disclosed that the establishment's owner, Philip Hanson, gave instructions for another animal to be shown to reporters
covering the incident. Hanson attributed Kenya's collapse to a "friendly tussle" between her and one of three other
elephants, Mary, Lily and Tikka, kept in the same enclosure. He said, "Kenya fell against a wall and couldn't get up."
Kenya had to be hoisted to her feet by firemen using an air bag and winch and tackle. She was then supported with a
sling around her middle to prevent her collapsing again. Her condition deteriorated and she later died.
May 14, 1998: According to a press release by the American Humane Association, a female African elephant, Akili, an
animal performer on the television series, "Born Free," died at her compound on the set. The exact cause of death is not
known. Akili was sold to a 60-year-old woman by an animal dealer because the woman had always wanted a pet
elephant. Workers on the set reported that the elephant was fed "moldy alfalfa."
August 27, 1998: An elephant trainer and a 3-year-old girl were injured when Minnie, a 9,000 pound elephant with the
Bob Cumerford Petting Zoo, panicked at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. Kathleen Saba and the trainer, Sloan
Damon, were taken to the hospital, treated and released. Saba was the last of at least two passengers riding the elephant
around 8:30 p.m.; when helpers went to take Saba off the elephant, the animal panicked. Damon tried to calm the
elephant, but when he tried to steer the animal toward a boarding ramp, the elephant kicked him and stepped on his
back, leaving an imprint. Saba fell off the elephant's back and hit her head on the ground.
Nine years prior to the incident, at a fair in Essex Junction, Vermont, Minnie threw her trainer Bruce Coring, face first
into a trailer. Police said he'd been hitting the animal with a stick. According to newspaper reports at the time, Coring
ended up in critical condition with multiple injuries, but the children riding the elephant were unhurt.
The father of Kathleen Saba intends to sue.
September 8, 1998: A six-year-old child was thrown off the back of an elephant. He and his uncle were half way
around the ride loop when the elephant sat down, looking like he wanted to roll. The elephant stood up and started to
shake. The uncle was thrown first and then the child. The child suffered a broken wrist which had to be set under
general anesthesia.
November 17, 1998: A circus elephant in Kathmandu, Nepal, trampled to death her trainer because she had not been
adequately fed, according to the Kathmandu Post. The elephant also ran through the town Janakpur where the circus
was participating in a local festival. According to Ramesh Khadka, a police inspector, "The elephant went mad, it first
killed its driver and started running through the town. It stood on two legs and pulled down compound walls of
buildings, threatening the lives of residents." Several people were injured in the confusion as they tried to get away.
Police later chased the elephant to a secluded area and shot her 40 times, killing the animal.
February 21, 1999: An African elephant, Luna, escaped center ring during a performance of the Royal Hanneford
Circus in Poughkeepsie, New York and charged toward the crowd. The 4,500-pound Luna was apparently disoriented
after performing a trick and stomped through several rows of chairs. Luna reportedly came within inches of some
audience members. After a nearly minute-long barrage, the animal ran behind a rear curtain and was contained.
According to circus officials, Luna will be 'retired' to a breeding facility or zoo. Luna had been one of the two elephants
giving rides during intermission.
April 24, 1999: Lawrence D. Verokosky, 27-year- old circus worker/animal handler with Tarzan Zerbini Circus, was
injured by an elephant at the Duluth Entertainment Center, where the annual Aad Temple Shrine Circus performed. On
Saturday morning Veroksky told a trainer that an elephant caused his injuries. He was treated for injuries to his left leg,
pelvis, and the left side of his face.
May 12, 1999: Toni Schamadan, a member of circus Flora, was injured while dismounting the elephant, Flora. She fell
from a ladder and the elephant backed into her. Schamadan suffered a broken leg. The incident caused a stir among the
news media and local residents who feared the elephant was rampaging. According to reports, Flora has no history of
aggression and is said to be so gentle that she visits elementary schools.
May 15, 1999: A 23-year-old American circus worker, Shayne Gressett, was killed by an elephant backstage between
performances. The elephant lifted his leg and kicked Gressett in the head.
July 26, 1999: Circus Elephant Drowns in Texas - According to a RBBB press release, a 4-year-old elephant,
Benjamin, drowned while playing and bathing in a pond on private property. In a press release from Pat Derby, from
the Performing Animal Welfare Society, "Baby elephants nurse for 2 or 3 years in the wild and female babies stay with
their mothers and the herd usually for life; male elephants remain with their mothers and the herd until puberty at age
10 or 12. At Ringling Bros. Circus, baby elephants are torn from their mothers and trained to perform when they
should still be nursing. The stress of training and travel, particularly for the young bulls who are more independent, is
unnatural and debilitating. It is no wonder they die suddenly; also baby elephants are notoriously good swimmers.
They don't just drown." PAWS filed complaints against Ringling Bros. Circus this year after a former crewmember
provided information on the treatment of elephants, including Benjamin, with the Blue Unit of Ringling Bros. Circus.
July 30, 1999: Ride Elephant Runs with Children on Her Back in Pennsylvania - While giving rides during a circus
intermission, an elephant screamed twice, turned away from it's trainer and attempted to run from the ring with children
still on top. The trainer then used a bull hook in the ear of the elephant in an attempt to control it and eventually
brought it back to the starting area with the help of other circus employees. They then began soliciting more riders for
the same elephant.
August 21, 1999: Circus Elephant Dies at Florida Winter Quarters - Petunia, an Asian elephant, died at Clyde Beatty
Cole's winter quarters. Recently, she suffered an injury when a tent pole fell on her back while she was helping to erect
the circus tent. Necropsy reports indicate renal failure, according to the circus press release. The Beatty Cole Circus
has been the subject of innumerable complaints to the USDA regarding the condition of the elephants in the past.
September 10, 1999: Florida-based Circus Elephant Dies - Conti, a 54-year-old Asian elephant, died at the Clyde
Beatty-Cole winter quarters. Initial necropsy reports indicate failing kidneys, according to the circus press release.
Conti had been observed to be in poor health for several months and was the subject of innumerable complaints to the
USDA.
October 4, 1999: Circus Elephant Escapes at Texas State Fair - Kamba, an African elephant, escaped from her
performance area at the Texas State Fair and ran into an intersection filled with spectators. Several policemen were on
the scene to keep spectators back and, before the incident was over, horse-mounted officers had joined the other
officers. At one point her trainers watched as a Chevrolet Suburban bearing the logo of the Dallas Parks and
Recreation Dept. attempted to pull the elephant back toward the arena.
October 24, 1999: Circus Elephant Kills Trainer in Bogota - A circus turned into a horror show for hundreds of
spectators in Colombia when an elephant gored and trampled her trainer to death. Maggy, one of three elephants
performing for the Mexico-based Modelo Circus, had just gone through her nightly routine when she suddenly turned
on her whip-wielding trainer and wrapped her trunk around him. After tossing the trainer into the air, she impaled him
with her tusks and then proceeded to stomp all over him on the ground. The 50-year-old trainer, Elias Mitrobich
Garcia, died with his skull crushed on the circus tent floor.
November 17, 1999: Ride Elephant Fight Kills Tourist in India - An 80-year-old American tourist was crushed to
death in a national park when the elephant she was riding, named Bhajan, was attacked and killed by another elephant.
Mary Brumder, who was on vacation with her grandson, Matthew Arndt, was killed when she was thrown to the
ground during the attack and crushed by the falling elephant Wednesday at Kaziranga National Park in northeastern
Assam state. Brumder was crushed and trampled. The elephant driver received serious injuries. Mr. Arndt suffered
broken bones in both feet. Regular daily rides are conducted for tourists in the park that houses 46 elephants.
January 5, 2000: Circus Elephant Escapes and Terrifies Neighbors in Texas - An escaped circus elephant owned by
Bill Swain of Trunks and Humps Inc. was found by neighbor Robin Walker pressing its head against the sliding glass
door that led to Walker's living room. When other elephants that had not escaped began trumpeting, the loose elephant
crashed through a 6-foot wooden fence that separates the two properties and returned to the herd. Walker has
complained to the City Council, and Mayor Lang Thompson said Swain was issued a permit in 1984 giving him
permission to keep two elephants on his property. Walker is asking the city to force Swain to adhere to his permit as
Swain has four elephants, three camels and two llamas, which are booked at circus performances throughout the
country. The elephants appeared in the movies "The Little Princess" and "Jungle Book."
January 26, 2000: Performer, 52, Stomped, Crushed by Circus Elephant in Florida - Kenya, an 18-year-old female
elephant, while chained to a tree at a compound where a circus family lives, broke loose and stomped a performer to
death. The elephant knocked Teresa Ramos-Caballero down with her trunk and stomped her, and when RamosCaballero got up, the 4,500-pound elephant knocked her down a second time and crushed her, the Hillsborough
Sheriff's Office said. The woman died at the scene. Kenya has been with the circus for 15 years. Ten days later the
elephant was found dead.
April 20, 2000: Two Circus Elephants Escape in California, with One Rampaging Through a Neighborhood and
Another Trampling a Woman - Yucca Valley, CA residents flooded the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
with calls Thursday when a circus elephant named Connie escaped while her trainer was attempting to load her into a
semi-trailer and terrified residents as she stomped through their desert community. She went three blocks down a local
street before circus handlers captured her and returned her to the circus without further incident.
While Deputies were locating Connie, another elephant named Barbara exited the trailer and started to walk away from
the area. A circus ticket-taker, Susan Annette Vonderheid, age 29, observed Barbara roaming the grounds freely and
attempted to direct her back into a pen, opening the pen and calling to Barbara. As Barbara entered the pen she
knocked Vonderheid to the ground. Witnesses reported that Vonderheid was trampled and nudged by Barbara. HiDesert Emergency Room reported that Vonderheid suffered contusions to her left hip and thigh.
Culpepper & Merriweather told the Sheriff's Department that the two elephants would return to their winter
headquarters for re-training.
April 24, 2000: Circus Elephant Kills British Tourist, Injures Relatives in Thailand - A young British woman was
killed and her father and sister wounded when a bull elephant ran amok at a Thai seaside resort tourist show, police said
on Tuesday. Tourist Andrea Taylor, 23, was pronounced dead at Bangkok-Pattaya hospital after being trampled by the
elephant. Her father suffered a broken leg and her sister suffered abdominal injuries, a hospital spokesman said. The
Bangkok Post newspaper reported that the bull elephant had turned on the handler of another elephant, grabbing him
with its trunk and hurling him to the ground, before turning on the tourists sitting in the front row. After the attack, the
elephant was recaptured by the park's staff. Police said they were investigating the case and the owner of the private
resort where the elephant was on show has been charged with recklessness leading to death and injury.
May 5, 2000: Ride Elephant Kills Handler in Botswana - A 27-year-old African bull elephant, Nyaka Nyaka, used by
Elephant Back Safaris in Botswana (run by Randall Moore of the United States), charged and killed a 28-year-old
safari guide, Andre Klocke, the safari company said Friday. Nyaka Nyaka was euthanized Friday on Moore's orders.
June 21, 2000: Elephant Escapes from Circus in Pennsylvania - A one-and-a-half-ton elephant named Tanya literally
walked away from her trainers at Circus Hope Wednesday night, wandering across the pavement until she arrived
behind the Home Depot, where, through the combined efforts of her trainers, South Strabane police, members of
Advance Security and two trucks, she was quieted and led back to her tent. One of her trainers, Bill Silverlake, said
Tanya made her 9:15 p.m. break when several children came near her playing toy horns. He said all the animals in the
circus were on edge because of the unnatural surface of the parking lot and the sounds of the nearby interstate highway.
October 26, 2000: Police Seize Elephants from Italian Circus - Police seized two Indian elephants from a circus in
provincial Italy and transported them to Rome Thursday, saying they had been imported illegally. Magistrates have
opened an inquiry into how the elephants arrived in Italy. Forestry police say the circus owner bought the elephants in
the Middle East and registered them on an out-of-date license granted for two elephants which had long since died. ". .
. maybe the time has come to consider shows without animals," Environment Minister Willer Bordon said when asked
about the case. "Acts with tigers, elephants and other animals are always the most popular, especially with children,
but maybe it would be better to allow these poor beasts to live in their natural environment."
February 23, 2001: Russian Circus Elephant Crushes Trainer to Death - An elephant crushed its trainer to death after a
performance at a Moscow theater, employees say. Two employees at Durov's Little Corner, a small animal theater
named after a famous family of circus performers, said trainer Alexander Terekhov had been crushed to death in the
elephant's pen after the evening performance. "We're still investigating the incident," one of the employees, who did
not give his name, told Reuters Thursday. Interfax news agency said ambulance workers confirmed the incident.
March 26, 2001: Illinois Teacher Accuses Circus of Cruelty - A Chicago teacher has filed charges with animal control
authorities over what she says was the brutal beating of a circus animal. Julie Ferguson says she was with a group of
students at the Shrine Circus. Ferguson and her eight-year-old child say they saw an elephant in the circus removed
from the act and beaten for failing to perform up to expectations. Ferguson says the elephant was chained by one leg,
then beaten repeatedly with a cane or bull hook until it raised its trunk and make a scream-like noise. She has filed a
formal complaint with animal control officials.
April 15, 2001: Handler Killed by Circus Elephant on Film Set in South Africa - A handler was killed by a female
elephant, which was being used on a film set, in Broederstroom outside Johannesburg on Sunday, police said. A coowner of Glen Africa farm outside Broederstroom, Vicky Brooker, said Fiso Mbambo, 23, was killed while walking
through the veld with five fellow handlers, who worked for circus owner Brian Boswell, at around 2:30 p.m. The
elephant was one of seven elephants being used as background animals for the filming of Olie, a film being made for
video release. According to witnesses, the elephant "just pushed him over, knelt on him and walked over him and
down to the river." The man, who was the elephant's handler for three years, died at the scene.
May 1, 2001: Australian Circus and Government Charged with Allowing Cruelty to Elephant - Legal action is being
taken over an elephant in Australia which has been left alone since her partner died in 1996. A circus and a
government department have been charged with cruelty after an animal rights group alleged Arna's conditions
contravened the Exhibited Animals Act. The legislation stipulated elephants are social herd animals, which must
always be able to see and touch other elephants. Stardust Circus faces three charges of cruelty over the elephant's
solitary confinement, training and performance regimes. The New South Wales Department of Agriculture faces two
charges of knowingly permitting an act of cruelty by granting a license to the circus.
May 9, 2001: Mexican Circus Elephant Wanders Along Highway - On one of Mexico's Pacific coast highways, there's
a pachyderm wandering among the palms. A three-ton elephant named Morris has been dining on dry grass, tree
branches, plastic bags and whatever else it can lift off the side of the highway. Morris' owner, a man who would not
give his name and who survives by scavenging trash along the roadway, says he doesn't have enough money to feed the
animal, who performs in a circus nearby. Raul Lozano, deputy chief of the federal environmental protection
administration's Acapulco office, said inspectors would check into the situation and that it was possible that the
elephant would be confiscated.
May 23, 2001: Elephant Escapes Unnoticed from German Circus - Police in Germany received an emergency call
about an elephant standing at a crossroads. When they arrived to check out the call, they found Tonga, a 14-year-old
female, had escaped unnoticed from a circus in Nurnberg. She was led back to her cage with the help of the elephant
trainer and firemen.
June 10, 2001: Spooked Circus Elephant Charges, Knocks Over Child at the Denver Zoo - Hope, an 18-year-old,
6,700-pound Asian elephant, was frightened by a falling water drum as she and a smaller elephant named Amigo were
being washed. Startled, Hope slammed her trainer, Jim Williams, into a wall and knocked over Amigo. She then
stepped over a 3-foot barrier and took off on a run. The child was knocked from her stroller as Hope came running
down a path. The child's mother, who has not been identified, said she believes her daughter was hit by the elephant's
trunk but is unsure if Hope also hit the stroller. The girl was treated at Children's Hospital for minor injuries and
released, said Fire Department spokesman Randy Atkinson. Williams received cuts and bruises, a man sprained his
ankle, and a woman suffered an asthma attack while running away from the elephant, Atkinson said. It took almost
three hours to get Hope back into a pen. Amigo and Hope were brought to the Denver Zoo by Have Trunk Will Travel,
owned by Gary and Kari Johnson of Southern California.
October 27, 2001: Rampaging Circus Elephants Captured on Videotape at Charlotte, NC Church - Two Vasquez
Circus elephants left behind a $75,000 trail of damage at the Word of Life Church in Charlotte, NC. Two elephants
named Debbie and Judy, weighing seven tons each, smashed through the front glass of the church. The elephants were
part of the circus happening in the parking lot. Senior Pastor Anthony King says two of his church members narrowly
escaped being trampled by the circus elephants. "Once in the foyer, they went down the hallway bumping up against
the walls and crashed into the back of the church," he said. Debbie and Judy are owned by Illinois-based Hawthorn
Corporation.
See incidents: May 25, 1983; July 7, 1985; May 18, 1995; July 10, 1995
March 13, 2002: Circus Elephant Escapes, Leads Police on Chase in South Carolina - Easley police officers said that
they got one of the strangest calls they've ever responded to on Wednesday. A three-ton elephant named Tanya got
away from her owner and was running loose on the south side of Easley. Tanya is owned by a man who runs a circus
in Easley, police said. Officers eventually cornered Tanya, but she was reluctant to surrender, officers said. It took a
few minutes and a few apples before she finally agreed to return home.
May 28, 2002: Circus Elephant Tramples Boy to Death in Bangladesh - Police have arrested a circus owner and two
trainers after an elephant scooped up a 10-year-old boy with its trunk before trampling him to death in Bangladesh.
Helal Miah, the father of the victim, Faruk Hossain, says his son and his playmates were petting the elephant when it
"went berserk." The elephant was tied with a chain to a pole at the circus in Dhaka. The owner and trainers were
arrested for allegedly causing death by negligence.
June 17, 2002: Shrine Circus Elephants Rampage in Wisconsin - Cord, an elephant with the George Carden Circus and
brought to town by the Mehara Shrine Club, made an early exit from a circus performance and headed down Main
Street in Menomonie, WI, walking about two miles through the city before being corralled. "All of a sudden the
elephant doing a performance went over the ring and right through the center ring," said a witness. "People in the
stands and everybody kind of scattered, and out the door it went." After Cord was loose, the fire department responded
with lights and sirens, prompting the 6-year-old elephant and her mother, 21-year-old Tory, to begin running in
opposite directions, officials said. Tory was quickly recaptured, but Cord wandered through the business district of
Menomonie and the University of Wisconsin-Stout campus until authorities managed to block her way, Police Chief
Dennis Beety said. When one of the handlers told a man to move his truck to block Cord, the elephant ran into the
truck, causing $600 in damage to the passenger door and front fender. The Menomonie Fire and Police Departments
responded to the Dunn County Recreation Park where they treated minor injuries. There were many children and
adults badly shaken by the incident, according to news reports.
August 9, 2002: Men Injured When a Truck Carrying Elephants Crashes in Rhinebeck - A semi-trailer truck carrying
two elephants overturned Friday morning on Route 9 about 7:15 a.m., slightly injuring three people in the cab of the
truck and trapping the elephants in the trailer for about three hours. The driver of the truck was headed south when the
truck drifted onto the right shoulder of the road, causing a sudden pull to the right, which the operator was unable to
control. The vehicle struck a curb, causing it to overturn and strike a telephone pole, police said. The truck came to
rest on its side. The African elephants, Paula and Kristi, were headed from a Carson & Barnes Circus performance in
Rensselaer to a Friday night show in the City of Poughkeepsie. The three men in the truck were taken to Northern
Dutchess Hospital where they were treated and released. The elephants were freed from the trailer after rescue workers
used Jaws-of-Life and other equipment to cut a hole in the roof of the trailer. Paula and Kristi, who suffered minor
injuries, were examined by local veterinarian James Mort of the Rhinebeck Equine Organization. In addition to state
police and the Rhinebeck Fire Department, the Village of Rhinebeck Police Department, the Dutchess County Sheriff's
Office and the state Environmental Conservation police assisted at the scene. According to police, the driver was cited
for having an uninspected trailer, an insufficient logbook and failure to keep right.
October 15, 2002: Circus Elephant Kills Tamer in Mexico - A 23-year-old Mexican elephant tamer has been killed
after Sami the elephant attacked him while they were taking part in a parade in La Piedad, Mexico. Sami, who weighed
1.5 tons, grabbed Benjamin Cabrera with its trunk and hurled him several times on the ground in front of a horrified
audience. Cabrera died instantly.
December 15, 2002: Circus Elephant Injures Keeper in Florida Zoo Rampage - A 6,000-pound elephant named Flora
went on a rampage Sunday at Miami MetroZoo, knocking an animal handler 15 feet into a rock formation during an
exhibition, leaving him in critical condition. Michael Embury, 31, was flown by helicopter to Jackson Memorial
Hospital after Flora, a 20-year-old pachyderm, knocked him over and kicked him 15 feet into a cluster of boulders at
the African Elephant exhibit, said zoo spokesman Ron Magill. Embury, who suffered a broken left arm, two broken
shoulders, a bruised spleen and a bruised brain, was in critical but stable condition Monday afternoon at Jackson
Memorial Hospital. Flora is owned by Circus Flora founder Ivor David Balding of Weldon Spring, MO. Balding is
paying the Miami zoo to board her.
January 29, 2003: Baby Elephant Dies in Womb at Riddle's Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary - A baby elephant died
during birth after her mother, a 29-year-old Asian elephant named Mary, had been unable to deliver after starting labor.
The necropsy showed that the female calf was extremely large at 375 pounds and 3 feet tall.
February 16, 2003: Elephant Dies at Riddle's Elephant & Wildlife Sanctuary - Mary, a 29-year-old Asian elephant,
died Sunday due to complications from the unsuccessful birth of a female calf 18 days earlier.
February 28, 2003: Circus Elephant Escapes Arena in Michigan - Sheba, a thirty-year-old African elephant, escaped
from the Jordan World Circus before a scheduled mid-morning performance of the Shrine-sponsored circus at the L.C.
Walker Arena in Muskegon, Michigan. Sheba headed east, crossing heavy traffic on Muskegon and Webster avenues
before the police could transport her trainer to her location. The trainer, Louie Delmoral, then walked Sheba back to
the circus.
April 9, 2003: USDA Cites Illinois-based Hawthorn Corporation - The USDA has filed charges against Hawthorn
Corporation, several Hawthorn employees, and Walker Bros. Circus, which used Hawthorn's elephants. The complaint
alleges 47 violations of the minimum standards of care established in the Animal Welfare Act that affected 12
elephants between March 29, 2001 and June 1, 2002.
April 9, 2003: USDA Cites Walker Bros. Circus - The USDA filed charges against Hawthorn Corporation, several
Hawthorn employees, and Walker Bros. Circus, which used Hawthorn's elephants. The complaint alleges 47 violations
of the minimum standards of care established in the Animal Welfare Act that affected 12 elephants between March 29,
2001 and June 1, 2002.
May 8, 2003: Circus Elephant Injures Trainer in the Philippines, Goes on Rampage - A 21-year-old circus elephant
named Dumbo injured his trainer's shin, then escaped from his quarters at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City,
the Philippines, and ran among pedestrians and motorists on Aurora Boulevard before a truck driver blocked his path,
allowing his handlers to chain his right front leg to a small tree. A fire truck later arrived to douse more water on the
elephant. A veterinarian at the Manila Zoo injected Dumbo with tranquilizers preparatory to his transport back to the
Araneta Center. The Metro Manila Development Authority sent a 10-wheel truck and a crane for the purpose. The
trainer was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Dumbo performs with 9 other elephants from Thailand in
"Elephant World," which is being staged in a especially built area near the Araneta Coliseum.
June 27, 2003: Circus Vehicle Transporting Elephants Tips Over in North Dakota - A pair of circus elephants received
minor injuries in the overturning of the semi van in which they were riding near Max, ND early Friday morning. The
vehicle carrying the animals was southbound from Minot en route to Beulah when the truck left the roadway, going off
into the west ditch and overturning. Both the driver and a passenger were hospitalized. The two Asian elephants,
which had performed Thursday night as part of the Carson & Barnes five-ring circus at the State Fairgrounds in Minot,
were extricated from the trailer by the Max Fire Department. The truck was called a total loss by a ND Highway Patrol
investigator. The driver was cited by the patrol for care required.
July 1, 2003: Elephant That Died at Hollywild Animal Park to be Subject of High School Project - Biology II students
from Chapman High School in Inman, SC, are studying archeology by exhuming an elephant skeleton at Hollywild
Animal Park. The skeleton is that of Sid, a male African elephant who died July of 2003 and was buried at the park.
Sid was 20 years old.
September 7, 2003: Grandmother Injured by Circus Elephant in England - At the end of a performance by Bobby
Roberts Super Circus in Queensferry, England, 60-year-old grandmother Irene Booth took her grandchildren to see the
circus' female Asian elephant Anne, which was in a field adjacent to the big top. It was there, as she tried to pat the
elephant, the animal became agitated and lashed out with its trunk, leaving her suffering concussion and whiplash.
Said eyewitness deputy editor in chief of Chronicle Newspapers, Wes Graham, "I couldn't believe it - the elephant was
not restrained in any way or being watched over. It was strolling around with nothing other than a bit of ribbon to stop
it. Children and parents were leaning over the ribbon to pat the animal. The elephant seemed agitated. It reared its
head into the side of a young boy who went flying across the grass and seconds later it butted Mrs. Booth who had tried
to pat it."
October 22, 2003: Malaysian Animal Trainer Killed by Elephant - An animal trainer was fatally struck by an elephant
just a week after getting the job with a circus in Malaysia, a news report said. The 40-year-old Indonesian, identified as
Amanat, was hit in the abdomen by the elephant's trunk during a training session in Sandakan, in Malaysian Borneo,
The Star newspaper reported. The trainer underwent surgery at a hospital but died on Saturday, circus owner Paul Lee
was cited as saying.
November 22, 2003: USDA Confiscates Ailing Circus Elephant - Saying an Asian elephant at a Richmond, IL-area
circus-training farm was in imminent danger, federal authorities took the rare step of confiscating the animal from
Hawthorn Corporation and shipping it to an out-of-state sanctuary. Officials from the USDA's Animal And Plant
Health Inspection Service confiscated 57-year-old Delhi after giving owner John Cuneo 24 hours' notice, said USDA
spokesman Jim Rogers. Rogers said the agency "took this action due to evidence that Delhi's health and well-being
were at serious risk from lack of veterinary treatment and inadequate veterinary care." "For a confiscation, an animal
generally has to be in a condition of unrelieved suffering or imminent danger of death," he said. In March of 2004 the
USDA is set to argue before an administrative law judge that Hawthorn's license to exhibit animals should be revoked
based on 47 alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
March 8, 2004: Hawthorn Corporation Agrees to Give Up Elephants in Settlement with the USDA - The owner of a
circus-training facility in rural McHenry County, IL has agreed to find new homes for his elephants under an agreement
with federal authorities, officials announced today. The proposed agreement between John Cuneo, owner of Hawthorn
Corp., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture would end the government's case against Cuneo and his company for
dozens of alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act concerning the elephants' care. A USDA administrative law
judge still must approve the settlement.
April 12, 2004: Baby Elephant Dies at Carson & Barnes Circus - Jennie, a five-year-old Asian female elephant calf,
passed away suddenly from elephant herpes virus (endotheliotrophic herpes virus) at the circus' headquarters in Hugo,
Oklahoma.
July 4, 2004: Circus Elephant Injures Trainer - Liebel Family Circus employee Hristo Entchev reports an African
elephant rammed him as he stooped near her water bowl, lifting him into the air and sending him tumbling down an
incline while performing during the Clinton, IA Riverboat Days celebration. Entchev was rushed for hospital
treatment, where he received stitches to his head and suffered severe pain for several days. Entchev, who said that the
incident was not reported by the circus to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, quit the circus that night. After being
contacted by an animal welfare organization about the incident, the USDA has launched an investigation of the
Davenport, Fla.-based circus for possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
August 5, 2004: Baby Elephant Injured at Circus, Euthanized - Riccardo, an eight-month old male Asian elephant was
euthanized by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus due to serious injuries sustained in a fall off a round
platform 19 inches high at Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. X-rays revealed severe and
irreparable fractures to both hind legs.
November 1, 2004: Elephant Dies at Hawthorn Corporation - Tess, a female Asian elephant scheduled for confiscation
by the United States Department of Agriculture, died while still in the Hawthorn Corporation barn. The USDA reports
that it is investigating the facts around her death.
November 2, 2004: Elephant Escapes from Owner's Missouri Farm - Betty, a five-ton Asian elephant, is back in her
pen, on owner Murray Hill's farm in southwestern Missouri, after pushing through a fence to make her escape. The
former circus elephant turned up missing on Monday. Hill says he found her late Tuesday in a neighbor's hayfield.
The pachyderm had several cuts, likely from making her way through the fence.
December 21, 2004: Buckles Woodcock's Elephant Dies at Scott Riddle's - Anna May, a 57-year-old female Asian
elephant, died at Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary on Tuesday. She had retired there on May 21, 2004 after
performing in the circus most of her life.
January 31, 2005: Circus Elephant Tramples Handler to Death in Fort Wayne - A female Asian elephant being loaded
onto a Tarzan Zerbini Circus truck trampled an animal trainer to death at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana,
police said. Three handlers were loading the elephant Monday as crews packed up from this weekend's Mizpah Shrine
Temple circus, officials said. Two of the workers left the trailer, leaving Pierre A. Spenle, 40, behind to lock the trailer
door. A Memorial Coliseum employee later saw Spenle lying inside a semitrailer with the elephants and alerted other
handlers, said Victor Hopkins, spokesman for the Allen County Sheriff's Department. Spenle, in critical condition with
injuries including blunt force trauma to the chest area, was taken to Parkview Hospital and died a few hours later.
February 9, 2005: Hawthorn Corporation Elephant Dies of Tuberculosis at Tennessee Sanctuary - Lota, a female
Asian elephant that the Illinois circus-training company sent to the Elephant Sanctuary after federal officials accused
him of not properly caring for her, has died of tuberculosis, sanctuary officials announced. Lota and another elephant
owned by Hawthorn had tested positive for tuberculosis before they arrived in Tennessee on November 17, 2004. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture filed charges in April 2003 that accused Hawthorn of failing to provide proper care for
its herd of 14 elephants. The government also filed 19 charges of cruelty against Hawthorn, which is based in
McHenry County, Illinois.
April 13, 2005: Ringling Bros. Handler Kicked by Elephant - David R. Mannes, 52, of Clermont, was airlifted to
Lakeland Regional Medical Center at 9 p.m. Wednesday after being kicked by Tova, a 36-year-old female Asian
elephant, at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Elephant Conservation Center near Old Grade Road in
Polk City, Florida. Mannes suffered a fractured pelvis and a soft tissue wound to his arm.
August 31, 2005: Siegfried & Roy Elephant Dies - The four-ton Thai elephant used in the Siegfried & Roy show has
died of natural causes, the performers said Thursday. Gildah, 57, died Wednesday night at The Mirage hotel-casino's
animal habitat, nearly four months after celebrating her birthday with fans.
ZOO ELEPHANT INCIDENTS
Late 1980: In Kansas City, at the Swope Park Zoo, a 9,000 pound African bull elephant Casey, charged his newly
certified trainer, tearing open the trainer's side and arm with his 3-foot tusk. Mark Kabek was putting Casey through his
paces as bystanders looked on. The animal suddenly charged, driving his tusk into Kabek's arm and side. The trainer
had to be hospitalized.
1984: In Hythe, England, a 22-year-old elephant keeper was killed when a bull elephant wrapped his trunk around the
man and crushed his head against an iron railing. Mark Aitken, who worked at the Port Lympne Wildlife Park near
Kent, was killed instantly by the 13-year-old elephant Bindu. A spokesman for the wildlife park called Aitken "a highly
gifted elephant keeper" and said Bindu's gesture was one of affection.
July 19, 1984: Tumai, a young African elephant, had a history of aggressive attacks against keepers. Bull elephants
frequently exhibit more aggression than females. Young bull elephants are trained in an attempt to keep them
manageable enough to be used for breeding. After a series of incidents at the park which was Tumai's original home, he
was sold to a circus in Florida and became the property of a popular "elephant consultant" who specialized in training
elephants for rides. Elephant trainers frequently chain difficult elephants in positions so physically limiting that they are
scarcely able to move. Tumai was chained in this manner for most of the summer with no shade or shelter. Reports
stated he was fed and watered infrequently to further debilitate his physical strength. Electric shock was administered
and failed. Determined to subdue Tumai, trainers rammed him with a skip loader tractor to show him there were things
bigger and stronger than he was. "They rammed him once in the back and once in the head, then left him lying there,"
an eye witness reported later. Tumai had sustained terrible physical damage, and was unable to stand. According to
reports that were received later, Tumai's owner was asked to remove the elephant from the zoo grounds to protect the
zoo from public outrage should his condition become known. When it was apparent that it would be impossible to
move him, he was finally euthanized after months of torment and suffering, from 5/10/84-07/19/84 according to
medical reports.
March 24, 1986: In Houston, Texas, a zoo keeper at the Houston Zoo was picked up by an Asian bull elephant and
dragged across an enclosure, then charged at and shoved against a wall. William Neuser, 27, was hosing down several
elephants when Thai, a 9,500-pound male, reached into the enclosure, picked the keeper up and dragged him across the
barrier.
Early 1987: In Fort Worth, Texas, a 4-ton bull elephant at the Fort Worth Zoo knocked down his handler and crushed
him to death. Sam, an Asian elephant in his early 20's knocked senior elephant keeper Michael A. Bell to the ground
with his trunk and stepped on the trainer's head. The handler from the Fort Worth Zoo had been training elephants for
14 years.
October 1, 1988: A San Francisco Zoo veterinary technician was hospitalized with a broken pelvis following an attack
by one of the zoo's two Asian elephants. Gail Hedberg, a five year veteran of the zoo, had been treating an absess on
Tinkerbelle's head when the animal became angry and did a "headstand" on her. Keepers defended Tinkerbelle, saying
the 22-year-old elephant had been beaten routinely by her handlers. Paul Hunter, a keeper at the zoo for nine years said
the abscess was the result of someone hitting her too hard with a hooked instrument called an ankus. Outraged zoo
employees charged that the elephant had been beaten and chained 15-16 hours a day. Hunter said it was the fourth
major injury caused by the elephants in 10 years.
January 31, 1989: An 8,000 pound Asian elephant, Cindy, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park lunged at David
SaoMarcos before a crowd of horrified visitors. SaoMarcos fell into the moat as the 26-year-old elephant hit and kicked
him while he was cleaning the elephant area. SaoMarcos suffered a broken collar bone. A trainer described Cindy as
"by far the most aggressive, malevolent elephant I've ever seen and I suppose possibly the most dangerous in the
country." Witnesses say the keeper had been striking the elephant on the back of her legs with an ankus.
See incident: February 1, 1989.
February 1, 1989: At the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Asian elephant Cindy, attacked Bob Potvin, trampling his
wheelbarrow as he escaped unharmed. Physical discipline was not administered to Cindy but she was placed in
isolation to prevent further incidents. Cindy is now at Point Defiance Zoo where she is in a protected contact program.
February 5, 1989: In Tampa, Florida, a 34-year-old animal keeper was killed at Busch Gardens after a 2-ton male Asian
elephant knocked him down and crushed his head and chest. Joe H. Allen was preparing to feed the 17-year old
elephant when the incident occurred. The elephant was brought to Busch Gardens for breeding purposes. The handler
had worked with elephants at Busch Gardens for almost 13 years.
The next day the same elephant tried to attack another keeper, trampling his wheelbarrow as he escaped unharmed.
See incident: January 31, 1989.
January 13, 1990: In Oakland, California, a 10,500 pound African elephant attacked and killed his keeper of 15 years.
Lorne Jackson, 55, was pronounced dead of massive chest injuries less than an hour after he was crushed by Smokey, a
male elephant. Zoo spokeswoman Martha Smith said that Smokey may have been in musth. A witness said the elephant
came down a hill and rammed Jackson up against a concrete pillar, leaving him flat on his face. Smokey then went up
the hill and started trumpeting.
March 19, 1990: In Loxahatchee, Florida, a 4-ton African elephant named Jo-Jo, lifted a Lion Country Safari
employee into the air, slammed the man to the ground and gored him with his tusk. Animal handler Bill Pentler, 32,
stumbled and fell while disciplining Jo-Jo, and the enraged elephant rammed her head into his midsection and
performed a headstand on top of his body. The elephant was still trying to attack Pentler, while fire-rescue workers
treated him. Pentler sustained a torn liver, five cracked ribs and gashes that required skin grafts. Jo-Jo started exhibiting
signs of aggression toward zoo staff and other elephants one month prior to the incident, said zoo spokesman Sydney
Smith.
Later, zoo officials decided to isolate Jo-Jo because two mood altering drugs given to the elephant had no effect on her.
She was moved in a tranquilized state to an isolated holding area. The zoo's veterinarian had given Jo-Jo a drug to
reverse the tranquilizer's effect when she lay down on her side and did not get back up. The elephant died shortly
afterwards.
March 14, 1991: At the San Diego Wild Animal Park, keeper Pamela Christine Orsi was killed when she apparently
stepped in to break up a fight between two elephants and was knocked down and stepped on. Alice, a 17-year-old Asian
elephant went after Cha-Cha, another Asian female who had been at the park since 1971. Orsi suffered extensive head
injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
August 1, 1991: A keeper at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, England was killed when he poked his head through the
bars of the elephant cage and was butted by a 5-ton elephant. His neck was broken against the cage bars.
December 24, 1991: A four-ton Asian elephant, Indu, at the Houston Zoo, attacked her trainer - breaking his
collarbone and four ribs. The elephant had been depressed and aggressive since watching her newborn calf die two
months earlier. The 40-year-old trainer attempted to stop Indu from slamming another female elephant into a fence.
After the man was butted, a second worker distracted Indu, allowing the injured man to escape. The 26-year-old
elephant had been unusually aggressive toward other female elephants since giving birth October 25th to a female calf
with an irreparable birth defect. The baby was eventually euthanized.
November 2, 1992: An elephant at the San Salvador National Zoo crushed her keeper to death as a party of school
children looked on. The elephant had spent her entire life at the zoo without a mate and was reportedly "frustrated and
lonely." It was the second zookeeper that Manyula has killed in 15 years.
December 15, 1992: In San Antonio, Texas, an elephant killed a keeper at the San Antonio Zoo by grabbing him with
her trunk and slamming him to the ground. Jubal Cox, 29, was leading a group of elephants inside an enclosure when
the incident happened. The 37-year-old elephant had been at the zoo since 1962.
July 30, 1993: In Tampa, Florida, a 31-year-old female Asian elephant, Tillie, became violent after she was unshackled
for the day and swatted a handler to the ground with her trunk. The elephant fatally kicked the 24-year-old handler,
who died less than an hour later. Tilli was shipped off to the Ringling circus elephant area in Williston, Florida. Zoo
official Melissa Twomey said the animal hadn't previously displayed aggressive behavior.
Two months beforehand, Tillie had pushed the same keeper into a moat surrounding the elephant compound.
October 7, 1993: Nick Rensink, an elephant keeper at the Metro Toronto Zoo, was seriously injured when he was
gored by a 25-year-old female African elephant. The response by his fellow zoo keepers, security and other staff is
credited with saving his life. His partner in the elephant house was able to step into the pen, back the elephant away
from Resnick and have Resnick crawl partially out of the accident area to safety.
January 30, 1994: Tiani, a 16-year-old elephant at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo lunged at her keeper, her tusk
causing a gash in the keeper's head that required six stitches. Zoo officials explained Tiani's behavior as a temper
tantrum, probably prompted by the elephant's confinement during the recent sub-zero weather. "The elephants have a
little pent up energy," said Sue Allen, the zoo's marketing director, adding Tiani has never before acted so aggressively.
February 24, 1994: Jennifer Warmbold, a keeper at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, was caring for Shanti, a 1,500pound, 3-year-old elephant when the elephant became "unruly." Warmbold suffered broken ribs, a broken sternum, a
collapsed lung and a deep wound in her back caused by Shantis' tusks. Shanti had snapped through some chains and
rope in the elephant holding area. Warmbold was trying to secure her when she slipped underneath the elephant and
was repeatedly injured. Shanti was undergoing training at the time and had been kept in chains and ropes for several
days.
Warmbold sued the Lincoln Park Zoo for an amount in excess of $1 Million.
May 1, 1995: In Liege, Belgium, Ben, a bull elephant at Savage World Safari Park, trampled his keeper to death.
May 1, 1995: In Zurich, Switzerland, Komali, an 11-year-old female elephant, seriously injured her keeper and was
destroyed.
August 10, 1995: An elephant, the only animal in the Kuwait Zoo to survive the Iraqi occupation, committed suicide
by banging her head against the cage. Dalal smashed her head against the cage after being driven mad by lack of space
and noisy construction at the zoo, reported Kuwait's Al Qabas daily newspaper. Dala was shot in the leg during the war
in 1990-91 but recovered from the wound. During the occupation, the Iraqi troops were charged with starving and
shooting the animals at the zoo.
February 13, 1996: Me-Tu, an Asian elephant at the Metro Washington Park Zoo, was put to death because of a
crippling foot infection. A year before, zoo keepers attempted to combat Me-Tu's foot malady by administering
antibiotics, creams, drying agents, ibuprofen, and a morphine-like pain killer. Her condition deteriorated and she was
finally euthanized. Me-Tu was managed in a free-contact situation and spent many years on chains. Until zoos provide
elephants with enclosures that allow freedom of movement and discontinue chaining, elephants like Me-Tu will
continue to suffer chronic foot infections which will ultimately lead to their deaths. Zoo officials reported that 12 years
before, Me-Tu had slammed a rookie zookeeper into a wall in the elephant barn.
October 20, 1996: An assistant trainer was attacked by Calle, a 5-ton female Asian elephant, during a training exercise
at the Los Angeles Zoo. Onlookers reported that Calle/Callie, charged Ron Rotter, breaking three of his ribs and a
collarbone as terrified visitors watched. Zoo officials called the incident an accident and said that the elephant had
"slipped" on wet concrete. A witness to the incident, Corky Sherman said, "It looked like the elephant took his head,
then knocked him down and tried to trample him." PAWS' contacts inside the zoo reported that the incident was not an
accident and that Calle/Callie, in fact, had a history of aggression. Calle/Callie was returned to Gary Johnson, an
elephant ride owner who had owned her prior to the incident. She had been part of a trade between Gary Johnson and
the LA Zoo in which Johnson traded two older Asian ride elephants for three younger Asians who had been captured
from the wild for the Zoo.
March 24, 1997: A 37-year-old elephant, Sabu, died at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The cause of her death was
unknown.
May 28, 1997: Lee Rhoades, a zoo supervisor at the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, Texas was crushed to death by a
female elephant, Gerry. Rhoades died of massive chest injuries and internal bleeding.
December 8, 1997: An African elephant died at Wildlife Safari Park in Oregon from injuries she suffered in a fight
with another elephant at the park. Sneeze was injured November 28th when an elephant named Alice knocked her over
and pinned her in the elephant barn. Sneeze, 27-years-old, showed signs of kidney failure and severe muscle trauma
after the attack. She had lived at the park since 1972.
March 8, 1998: Two female Asian elephants, Gunda and Sooky, at the Tulsa Zoo started pushing on the walls of their
enclosure and the fence crumpled under their massive weight. One of the elephants climbed up the fence, leaning half
of her weight on the bars while her trunk swung over the top.
June 2, 1998: A male elephant in a Belarussian zoo killed a keeper reportedly because he was angered at having his
lunch delivered late. The incident took place at Hrodno Zoo, in western Belarus, where the elephant, Surik, suddenly
attacked the 42-year-old woman keeper who was bringing him his lunch. The keeper died from her injuries. "The
keeper was an hour late with Surik's lunch which we think was the cause of the tragedy," the official from Hrodno Zoo
explained.
July 9, 1998: An Asian elephant Winky/Winkie, and an African elephant, Penny, injured a zookeeper at the Henry
Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wisconsin. The zookeeper was "picked up by one, thrown and (then ) he was knelt down upon
by a second elephant." Zoo Director Dave Hall said the zoo keeper was new, which may have caused Winky/Winkie
and Penny to react that way. The zookeeper was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released. The Vilas zoo
supervisor said Winky/Winkie has attacked twice before, but that the injuries were minor.
November 6, 1998: Ruby, an elephant celebrated at the Phoenix Zoo for her pachyderm paintings, had to be put to
death during surgery to remove her dead, 200-pound fetus. Ruby's uterine wall had ruptured during pregnancy and
caused a deadly infection. Veterinarians tried unsuccessfully to remove the fetus vaginally after determining that the
fetus had died. In all four previous attempts to perform Caesarean sections on Asian elephants worldwide, the mothers
have died. Ruby was part of a "Species Survival Plan."
November 8, 1998: A 29-year-old female elephant, Cita, bludgeoned a zookeeper with her trunk, breaking the
woman's ribs. Leslie Mackie was bathing four elephants at the Indianapolis Zoo when Cita, who had been aggressive
toward other elephants, raised her head in a threatening manner toward another one of the animals. When Ms. Mackie
told Cita, "No," the animal turned and struck the woman several times with her trunk, Ms Mackie lost consciousness
briefly, and when she came to she called for help to other keepers.
May 5, 1999: aDamini, a 72-year-old elephant at the Prince of Wales Zoo in Lucknow India, reportedly died of intense
grief. Her companion, a pregnant elephant who had been giving tourist rides, arrived at the zoo 9 months earlier for
maternity leave and died in April while giving birth to a still born calf. Damini shed tears and stopped all attempts at
eating or drinking. Zoo officials fed her intravenously but the elephant continued to grow weaker and died.
May 26, 1999: An amusement park company thought of a clever way to promote the first day of its stock sales.
"Wednesday-take an elephant to the stock exchange." The pachyderm thought otherwise. The noise and crowds of
downtown Madrid spooked Clarissa, a 12-year-old elephant, so badly that she broke away and knocked down traffic
lights, a lampost and a trash bin. "We didn't expect her to react this way," acknowledged a company official. "She's
used to being around people."
August 11, 1999: Captive Baby Elephant Dies - According to the Associated Press, the first elephant born in
Singapore's zoo suddenly died 15 months after she survived breaking her leg during birth and undergoing surgery. The
baby elephant, Sri Utama, broke her leg during birth 15 months ago. Zoo spokesperson Priscilla Yim-Stacey said that
baby elephants are very fragile and elephants rarely survive the anesthesia used in surgery.
November 1, 1999: Baby Elephant Dies at Zurich Zoo - Xian, a young Asian male elephant, died suddenly from a
herpes infection while splashing in water with his mother and other elephants.
December 11, 1999: Zoo Injury Threatens Eye - A zookeeper hurt at the Oklahoma City Zoo on Saturday may lose the
sight of one eye. During an elephant training exercise, zookeeper Janet Wiard, 35, was hit by a crank that's used to
open a gate. An elephant hit the gate, which caused the crank to strike her on the shoulder and in the eye. The gate
crank shattered her eye socket, and doctors inserted a titanium plate in her eye.
December 22, 1999: Zoo Elephant Injures Two Men - A 33-year-old Asian elephant named Winkie injured a
veterinarian and a zookeeper this morning at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI. Zoo Director David Hall said the
zookeeper was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of injuries to his face after he was reportedly thrown into
a wall or bars by Winkie's head as she had turned to lunge at visiting veterinarian Bill Lindsay, from Baraboo, WI. The
elephant grabbed Lindsay with her mouth, but he was not seriously injured and declined treatment, Hall said.
See incidents: 1977; July 9, 1998; July 21, 2006.
January 11, 2000: Gift Elephant Injured in Journey - Veterinarians were treating a 3-year-old Asian elephant intended
as a gift to the Japanese government after she collapsed during a grueling four-day cross-country journey on the back of
a pickup truck. Jaya suffered injuries to her neck and was paralyzed on one side during the 660-mile trip across
northern India. Jaya came from a zoo in Gauhati, in northeastern Assam state, which had responded to an
advertisement.
February 27, 2000: British Zoo Keeper Crushed to Death by Elephant - A keeper at a British zoo was crushed to death
Monday by one of the Indian elephants in his care. Darren Cockrill, 27, was found in the female elephant's stall with
multiple injuries and was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Ashford southeast of London, Port Lympne Zoo said.
The female elephant, called La Petite, arrived at the zoo last fall. Cockrill had worked with elephants for the last eight
years. "Darren was a top quality keeper, one of the best," park owner and entrepreneur John Aspinal said. The death
was the latest in a string of accidents at two wild animal parks owned by Aspinall. In the last 20 years, three keepers
have been killed by Siberian tigers and one was trampled by an elephant.
May 1, 2000: Zoo Elephant Injures Spectator - An elephant called Sandro had thrown a 1Kg stone at a 9-year-old girl
at the Zoo of the city of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil. The girl had her jaw broken as well as 10 of her teeth. The accident
occurred on May 1st. The girl was submitted to a surgery and has another one scheduled.
May 9, 2000: Zoo Dismisses Elephant Keeper - Oregon Zoo officials have fired a zookeeper alleged to have abused an
elephant last month. The incident - involving Rose-Tu, a 6-year-old female Asian elephant, and an experienced zoo
keeper - occurred nearly three weeks ago, said Tony Vecchio, the zoo's director. Vecchio would not release the name
of the keeper but said the firing stemmed from an incident that unfolded on the morning of April 17. "They [two other
keepers] thought he was using excessive and inappropriate force with Rose-Tu," Vecchio said. "They couldn't resolve
it, and they called in a supervisor." Vecchio said Mike Keele, the zoo's assistant director, spoke to all three employees
and decided the keeper had violated the rules. The keeper was sent home.
May 25, 2000: Elephant that Died at Zoo also Contracted Tuberculosis - Staff Members Who Worked with Carolyn
Will be Monitored - An autopsy of Carolyn, a 32-year-old Asian elephant that died April 11 at the St. Louis Zoo,
showed that she had tuberculosis, although she died of a bacterial kidney infection, zoo officials said Wednesday. This
finding has led health officials to begin a tuberculosis-monitoring program of zoo staff members and others who
worked with Carolyn.
July 11, 2000: Grudge Blamed for Fatal Elephant Attack - A bull elephant killed his mahout's brother after he gave the
animal's feed to a female at Suan Chang resort, Pattaya, Thailand, on Tuesday night. Oun Insamran, 50, was gored in
the chest by Plai Yokie, who was chained at the time, and died instantly. Witnesses said Plai Yokie, angered, had
thrown stones at Oun, who ignored the elephant. Mr. Dam, the mahout, said yesterday the assault on his brother was
purely personal. He said his brother had been mean to Plai Yokie when they were back in Surin and the animal had lost
his temper when his feed was removed. Plai Yokie had been with the zoo for more than two years and never hurt a
single tourist, Mr. Dam said. The zoo management on Wednesday sent Plai Yokie back to Surin and said it planned to
send 10 other bull elephants back to their home provinces.
August 22, 2000: Elephant Put to Death - Veterinarians at the National Zoo on Tuesday euthanized Nancy, a 46-yearold African elephant that suffered from several health problems and began refusing medication last week. Nancy was
the zoo's only African elephant. She arrived at the zoo from East Africa in 1956.
November 29, 2000: Baby Elephant Dies at Six Flags Marine World - Kala, a 2-year-old Asian male elephant, died
from an elephant herpes virus called EIBD after being at the Vallejo park for only six months, UC Davis veterinarians
say. Kala arrived at the park in May and was on loan from Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri. Animal advocates say
Kala would still be alive if he were never taken away from his mother and moved to the park. Out of Marine World's
3,000 animals, five have died in the last three years.
February 8, 2001: Zoo Keeper Attacked by Elephant (and later dies) - Richard Hughes, 34, was struck on the head and
shoulders and knocked off his feet as he led a 30-year-old female Asian elephant, Kumara, from her overnight shed at
Chester Zoo, England. The heavily-bleeding keeper was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to
hospital, where he lost consciousness. (Later, Countess of Chester Hospital confirmed that Mr. Hughes died from his
injuries on Saturday, February 17.) (Kumara was killed immediately after the incident.)
March 11, 2001: African Elephant Dies at Oakland Zoo - Smokey, a 14,000-pound, 11-foot tall male, died Sunday
morning, zoo officials said. He had suffered an unidentified illness for several weeks, but veterinarians were treating
him with antibiotics, said Allison Lindquist, zoo assistant director. Veterinarians are trying to determine the cause of
death. A virus is the likely killer, Lindquist said. "He laid down in his stall and wouldn't get up," Lindquist said.
Smokey was 29 - most elephants survive about 50 years in captivity.
June 8, 2001: Denver Zoo Elephant Euthanized - Candy, a 50-year-old Asian elephant was euthanized early Friday
morning. A Thursday evening tussle with roommate and fellow Asian elephant, Mimi, resulted in Candy falling down.
Her advanced age and very limited mobility due to chronic severe arthritis in all her joints prevented her from being
able to stand again on her own. The zoo's veterinary staff conducted a thorough necropsy exam. "In addition to finding
severe arthritis in her wrists ... we also found advanced arthritis in hips and all major joints. Kidney tumors and
myositis (a form of muscle damage) were also present," said Dr. Jeff Baier, Denver Zoo veterinarian.
July 6, 2001: Three Zoo Elephants Escape - Three elephants broke loose at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, but did not
stray far before officials marched them back into their stall. The 3,000-pound elephants pushed open the door to their
stall and wandered into a nearby service area, where park rangers found them grazing on weeds at about 9:15 p.m. The
elephants were returned to their stalls within 15 minutes, Bruce Clark, the zoo's director, said. The three 14-year-old
female elephants apparently pushed on the wooden door and broke the pin that locks it, Clark said.
July 17, 2001: Zoo Elephant Breaks Trainer's Ribs - Adun, a seven-ton male elephant, injured his animal trainer at the
Malacca Zoo in Malaysia. The bull elephant became over-friendly embracing the victim, 31-year-old Abdul Rahim,
with his trunk during a shower. Mohd Nawayai Yasa, the zoo director, said Adun became frisky as he's now aged 17
and like any teenager, becoming frisky and ready for mating. "Most probably this is why Adun turned violent when
Abdul Rahim was showering him," he said. Adun is also a star of films and commercials. Said the director, "Adun is
our golden elephant because it follows instructions well and can do most of the acts required by movie and commercial
directors. He is also our main cast in our daily elephant shows at the zoo. Since the attack, we had to stop the shows
temporarily. We have also chained all his four legs for the time being and reduced his food intake besides giving him
medication."
See incident: March 18, 2003
July 31, 2001: Elephant Attacks His Keeper of 18 Years - An elephant keeper is in a Singapore hospital after being
gored by an elephant he had looked after for over 18 years at a zoo. Gopal Krishnan is in stable condition with
fractured ribs and a punctured lung after Chawang turned on him during an afternoon walk. The bull elephant lifted
him with his trunk and gored him with his tusks. Singapore City zoo official Robin Goh said that Chawang is in
confinement and that other elephant handlers were surprised by the sudden attack. It has been suggested that the
elephant would be killed to prevent further attacks, but Mr. Goh said the zoo would never punish a wild animal for
"instinctive behavior."
August 6, 2001: Elephant Kills Zookeeper in Czech Republic - A zookeeper in the Czech Republic has been attacked
and killed by an elephant. The 44-year-old worker at Dvur Kralove nad Labem zoo in east Bohemia had been giving
the sick female elephant an injection. The elephant suddenly jerked her chin, tripping the man up, and then attacked
him with her tusks. He was taken to hospital with serious chest injuries but later died.
August 23, 2001: Two Knoxville Zoo Workers Hurt When Elephant Breaks Loose - Keepers Tom Troy and Mike
Gaugler were taking Mamie, the zoo's painting African elephant, on a daily get-acquainted stroll to a new exhibit space
when she decided to make a run for some tasty tree leaves, zoo executive director Jim Vlna said. The 40-year-old
pachyderm burst through a pathway gate and eventually climbed onto an old, wooden deck that began cracking under
her 7,000-pound weight. "That's where she got a little nervous," Vlna said. "Mamie was not at all aggressive, but
when she was swinging her head around, she did catch two of the keepers." Troy had a cut on his head and Gaugler
injured a rib. Both were treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
September 9, 2001: Baby Elephant, 11 Days Old, Dies at Oakland Zoo - Eleven days after Dohani was born healthy at
the Oakland Zoo and his mother, Lisa, had nursed and nurtured him, the calf was found dead in his stall. Zoo Director
Joel Parrott said a necropsy showed the baby African was killed by one swift blow, delivered by its mother. Dr. Parrott
speculated that it was accidental.
September 18, 2001: Elephant dies at Omaha Zoo - One of two African elephants at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo has
died. Zookeepers found the elephant dead in her pen Tuesday morning, said Dr. Lee Simmons, zoo director. "We don't
know what happened," he said. Penny was estimated to be 50 years old and the third-oldest elephant in North America,
Simmons said.
October 20, 2001: Zookeeper at the London Zoo "Deliberately Crushed" by Elephant - A zookeeper was held down by
a four-ton elephant and "deliberately" crushed to death, an inquest has heard. James Robson, 45, suffered massive head
injuries in front of shocked visitors at London Zoo as the elephant pinned him down and crushed him, coroner's officers
said. Witnesses said the man screamed for help but was unable to escape before the 20-year-old female elephant, called
Mya, stamped on his head. He died hours later. A coroner's court spokesman told PA News: "The witnesses said this
elephant had pinned him down and crushed his head. No-one disputed that it had seemed to be deliberate." (11/1/01 London Zoo announces plans to move its three elephants to Whipsnade Wild Animal Park.)
November 20, 2001: UK Woman Trampled by Zoo Elephant in Thailand - A holidaymaker from the UK has been
seriously injured after being trampled by an elephant at a Thai zoo. British Embassy officials said Louise Fletcher was
riding the elephant at Phuket Zoo when the elephant suddenly decided to charge another animal. Ms. Fletcher was
thrown to the ground and the elephant's foot came down on her leg. The 26-year-old has been recovering in hospital in
Phuket, where she is said to have undergone four skin grafts and had a steel pin placed in her leg.
February 1, 2002: Zoo Elephant Injures Keeper at Pittsburgh Zoo - Two zoo employees told Team 4 news that an
elephant injured a handler during an elephant walk in February. Employees said that Moja attacked a baby elephant
named Cowie. Then, the baby's mother, Nan, attacked Moja and pushed her on top of elephant keeper Ryan Gottus.
Gottus' leg was seriously injured, and he suffered a collapsed lung. The injuries left him unable to work for three
months. Zoo spokeswoman Connie George confirmed the accident.
See incident: November 18, 2002
July 27, 2002: Birth-canal Difficulty Fatal for Male Elephant Calf at Toledo Zoo - Rafiki, a 20-year-old African
elephant at the Toledo Zoo, gave birth to a dead 350-pound male infant Saturday afternoon. It appeared the infant
suffocated in the birth canal, according to Dr. Dennis Schmitt of Southwest Missouri State University, when after a
period of 10-15 minutes, only the elephant's back legs and bottom emerged.
October 7, 2002: Elephant Fetus Dies at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo - The calf of a 24-year-old African
elephant at Six Flags Marine world died in the womb Monday. Tika was impregnated by artificial insemination almost
two years ago. She went into labor Saturday evening, but over the next 24 hours, her contractions lessened. The fetus
was alive Sunday evening, but had died by Monday afternoon.
October 10, 2002: North Carolina Zoo Elephant Dies - Nita, a 28-year-old female African elephant, died Thursday
night at the North Carolina Zoo following more than a week of treatment for a suspected acute infection that has not
been identified, officials said. Nita died in the elephant holding barn about 7:30 p.m. She had become weak and had
suffered a loss of appetite since September 30th.
November 13, 2002: African Elephant Dies at Riverbanks Zoo - A 33-year-old African elephant at Riverbanks Zoo in
Columbia, SC died mysteriously in its stall, the zoo announced Wednesday. Zoo keepers found the animal in her stall
early Wednesday, according to executive director Satch Krantz. There were no obvious signs of stress or disease. The
elephant had been acting odd in recent days, refusing to come out of the barn.
November 18, 2002: Elephant Kills Keeper at Pittsburgh Zoo - A 6,200-pound female African elephant attacked and
killed keeper Mike Gatti, 46, during a routine walk this morning before the opening of the Pittsburgh Zoo. Gatti had
just given the 20-year-old elephant called M. and her baby a verbal command to move forward when M. struck Gatti
with her head, knocking him down, said zoo chief Barbara Baker. M. then continued to push down on him with her
head as he was on the ground. Gatti was unconscious when he was taken to the hospital. City police homicide
detectives were called to the scene. Two zoo employees told Team 4 that the same elephant injured a handler in
February, also during an elephant walk.
See incident: February 2002
November 19, 2002: Asian Elephant Euthanized at Point Defiance Zoo - Cindy, a 40-year-old Asian elephant, was
euthanized Tuesday after zoo keepers discovered she was unable to stand. She had been diagnosed with arthritis this
summer. She had initially responded to treatment, but lately had begun to lose weight. Her keepers decided to put her
to death Tuesday when she failed to respond to medication.
November 21, 2002: Niabi Zoo Elephant Dies - Kathy Sh-boom, a 42-year-old female Asian elephant, was found dead
at Coal Valley, Illinois' Niabi Zoo this afternoon. Preliminary necropsy results that could reveal the cause of death are
expected tomorrow.
November 25, 2002: Elephant Euthanized at Six Flags Marine World in California - A 24-year-old African elephant
has died at Six Flags Marine World from an infection that occurred after a calf died in her womb six weeks ago. Tika
was euthanized Monday for untreatable internal infections. An autopsy determined the unborn calf's back leg got
caught, preventing the calf from moving properly into the birth canal. The calf died in the womb.
January 20, 2003: Oregon Zoo's Oldest Elephant Dies - Hugo, the Oregon Zoo's oldest bull Asian elephant, has died
of unknown causes. Hugo died Monday after zookeepers found him on his side, breathing heavily, on Saturday
morning, said Chris Pfefferkorn, zoological curator. He was estimated to be 43 years old.
February 19, 2003: Elephant Kills Dutch Keeper - An African elephant in a Dutch safari park trampled her trainer to
death, officials said Thursday. A spokesman for Safari Beekse Bergen said the incident happened during a training
session. When the keeper gave the elephant a command, the elephant gave him a blow with her head. After the keeper
fell, the elephant trampled him. The 36-year-old trainer, whose identity was not released, died later at hospital of his
injuries.
March 18, 2003: Malacca Zoo Bull Elephant Injures Keeper - Adun, the Malacca Zoo elephant which performed in the
movie Anna and the King with Chow Yuen Fatt and Jodie Foster, has been placed under isolation for two days after his
keeper was found injured on Tuesday. Mohd Razak Sadikon, 35, who had taken the elephant out for a bath after a
training session at around 4pm, was found lying on the ground bleeding. None of his colleagues witnessed what had
transpired. In July 2001, Adun had attacked an elephant trainer at the zoo, wrapping his trunk around the man and
squeezing him. The trainer sustained a broken rib and lung injuries in the incident.
See incident: July 17, 2001
March 21, 2003: Elephant is Stillborn at Six Flags Marine World - An African elephant at Six Flags Marine World in
Vallejo, CA has delivered a stillborn baby, the third pachyderm to die at the 140-acre theme park since October.
Misha, 22, who had been artificially inseminated, delivered a dead calf early Friday after a 22-month gestation period.
The loss occurred less than six months after Tika, a 24-year-old African elephant, had had a calf die in her womb. Tika
was euthanized in November from untreatable internal infections.
April 8, 2003: Disney's Animal Kingdom Elephant Loses Calf - Veterinarians and elephant managers at Disney's
Animal Kingdom have concluded that the calf of Robin, a pregnant African elephant, is no longer viable. Labor started
prior to 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, for the 33-year-old first-time mother. Strong initial contractions lessened over the
first 24 hours, and many unsuccessful attempts were made to induce productive labor. Robin became pregnant through
artificial insemination on June 16, 2001.
April 12, 2003: Young Elephant Dies at Rosamond Gifford Zoo - Preya, an Asian elephant who charmed visitors to
Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park when she was born three years ago, died Saturday after showing signs of a
bellyache. Preliminary autopsy results indicated she died from an acute viral infection.
June 3, 2003: Indianapolis Zoo Elephant Dies Two Weeks After Surgery - The first African elephant in the world born
through artificial insemination died Tuesday morning, the Indianapolis Zoo said at a news conference. The 3-year-old
elephant, Amali, fell sick after eating rocks and gravel at the zoo and underwent abdominal surgery May 21 to remove
an intestinal blockage.
June 17, 2003: Brookfield Zoo Elephant Euthanized After Leg Injuries - Zoo officials announced that Mame, a 32year-old female African elephant, was euthanized after suffering disabling injuries to her front legs in an encounter
with another elephant. The Brookfield veterinary staff said the prognosis for a successful recovery was very poor and
euthanizing the elephant was the most humane choice.
July 18, 2003: Elephant Attacks, Injures Indianapolis Zoo Trainer - An animal trainer at the Indianapolis Zoo suffered
a leg injury when he was attacked by Ivory, a female African elephant. Zoo officials said the elephant was apparently
trying to defend her calf. The man, whom zoo officials would not identify, is recovering from surgery on his lower left
leg, which was injured Friday by a head thrust from the elephant. "He took a jab, perhaps from a tusk," said Judy
Gagen, a zoo spokeswoman.
September 21, 2003: Premature Elephant Calf Euthanized at Fort Worth Zoo - Rasha, the Fort Worth Zoo's 30-yearold Asian elephant, delivered a six-month premature female calf on Friday. On Sunday evening, the Zoo's veterinary,
animal and management team decided to euthanize the calf. Her immune system was too compromised to fight off a
generalized bacterial infection, leading to multiple organ disease.
September 22, 2003: Elephant Found Dead at Copenhagen Zoo - A seventeen-year-old elephant named Coco died
unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Other elephants in the zoo have been quarantined.
See incident: October 13, 2003
October 13, 2003: Copenhagen Zoo Plagued by Mystery Elephant Deaths - For the second time in just a month,
animal minders at Copenhagen's zoo arrived at work Monday morning to find one of the elephants in their care dead.
The elephant, Punjab, was almost two years old and died quietly in it sleep Sunday night. Vets were mystified by the
cause of the death, which came only three weeks after another elephant also died unexpectedly in the middle of the
night.
See incident: September 22, 2003
October 15, 2003: Zurich Zoo's Internet Elephant Baby Dies - A young elephant whose birth was seen live on the
Internet by tens of thousands of people died Wednesday, Zurich Zoo said. Two-year-old Asian male Aishu apparently
died from a herpes virus infection a day after becoming sick, zoo director Alex Ruebel said.
November 3, 2003: Elephant Euthanized at Kansas City Zoo - Officials at the Kansas City Zoo said that its 25-year-old
elephant, Dale, died Monday morning. The African bull elephant was found lying down in his pen Monday after
recently showing signs of an illness. Zookeepers tried to revive Dale, but when his condition worsened, zoo officials
decided to euthanize him. The zoo's director of animal health said that Dale tested positive for the flavi virus and was
being treated for it. Zoo officials said that the flavi virus is most likely a mosquito-borne virus such as West Nile or St.
Louis encephalitis.
December 29, 2003: Houston Zoo Elephant Dies One Day After Birth - Thirty-five-year-old Asian elephant, Methai,
gave birth Sunday afternoon after a 22-month pregnancy, but Houston Zoo senior veterinarian Joe Flanagan suspected
problems when, after four hours had passed, the baby could not stand on its own. Doctors conducted a series of
diagnostic tests and gave the newborn intensive care, but the calf died Monday night.
January 23, 2004: Elephant Makes Daring Escape from Auckland Zoo - An elephant briefly escaped from New
Zealand's Auckland Zoo on Friday after dropping a log on an electrified fence and crashing through a gate. Twentyyear-old Burma, one of two elephants at the zoo, was free for about half an hour, forcing some road closures during the
morning commuter rush. Burma was found in a park behind the zoo. She had neutralized the electrified fence around
the elephant enclosure by dropping a large log onto it, then climbed into a moat and walked along the perimeter fence
before pushing through a gate to enter the neighboring park, said Maria Finnegan, the zoo's director of life sciences.
March 7, 2004: San Francisco Zoo Euthanizes Elephant - Calle the ailing elephant died at the San Francisco Zoo on
Sunday morning, hours after another elephant attacked her. Zoo veterinarians quietly euthanized Calle, a 37-year-old
female Asian elephant at about 5 a.m. Zoo officials had said last week that Calle needed to be euthanized because her
leg problems - caused by degenerative joint disease and exacerbated by tuberculosis - had left her barely able to stand.
Then, Saturday afternoon, Tinkerbelle, a 38-year-old female companion to Calle, suddenly pushed Calle, who ended
up collapsed on her belly and rear legs before she could recover and stand up, according to zoo officials.
March 25, 2004: Calgary Zoo Worker Injured by Elephant - A 38-year-old elephant keeper at the Calgary Zoo suffered
chest, spinal and shoulder injuries when a female elephant pinned her against a wall. Zoo officials say the incident with
the worker happened while staff were washing the elephant. Head zookeeper Bob Kam said the elephant turned around
suddenly, pinning the female elephant keeper. The woman is in stable condition in hospital.
April 22, 2004: Maybelle the Elephant Dies Suddenly at San Francisco Zoo - Maybelle, a 43-year-old African
elephant, died suddenly Thursday morning at the San Francisco Zoo. New zoo director Manual Mollinedo said
Maybelle was lying down on her chest in her outdoor exhibit, legs splayed, when her keeper showed up at 7 a.m. Since
she was not able to get up, a crane was brought in to help her try to stand. She continued to deteriorate, had trouble
breathing and died around 10:30 a.m. The entire pachyderm program will now be re-evaluated. "Plans for elephants at
the zoo are being reassessed," said Mollinedo. The death of the 10,000-pound Maybelle comes less than seven weeks
after the demise of Calle, an ailing Asian elephant whose planned euthanasia was hastened when companion
Tinkerbelle attacked her.
June 1, 2004: Marine World Elephant Gores Trainer in California - A veteran trainer at Six Flags Marine World
Vallejo was critically injured Tuesday after being gored by a 7,000-pound African elephant. Patrick Chapple, 39, was
standing hear Misha, a 23-year-old female pachyderm, when the elephant knocked him down with her trunk at about
3:15 p.m., said park spokesman Jeff Jouett. The elephant then ran her tusk completely through Chapple's back and
through his abdomen. A spokeswoman at John Muir confirmed that Chapple "was critical" and underwent about two
hours of surgery. Chapple, a Napa resident, was taken by helicopter to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek
with a "penetrating wound" to the abdomen, said Bill Tweedy, public information officer for the Vallejo Fire
Department. Chapple was taken out of intensive care after the operation.
July 21, 2004: Rescued Elephant Dies at Sanctuary - Tina, a female Asian elephant, was born on April 26, 1970 at the
Portland, Oregon Zoo. At two years of age, Tina was sold to the Vancouver Game Farm - later to become the Greater
Vancouver Zoo under new owners. Tina lived alone in Vancouver, except for a period between 1986 and 2002 when
the zoo had an African elephant named Tumpe. After Tumpe left, many recognized that Tina's environment was
detrimental to her well-being. On August 11, 2003, after a 3,000 mile, 3.5 day, cross-country trip, Tina arrived at the
Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN. Tina died on July 21, 2004. The necropsy showed that the interventricular
septum and left ventricular wall of Tina's heart were approximately 10 times the thickness of the right ventricular wall.
Tina's vet of record concluded that the cause of Tina's death was a heart problem, very possibly a genetic defect.
September 6, 2004: Sudden Illness Kills Houston Zoo Elephant - Kimba, a 13-year-old female Asian elephant, died
Monday afternoon after a sudden illness. The zoo's veterinary staff performed a necropsy on the 6,000-pound elephant
shortly after her death, but the procedure did not reveal any visible internal defects - boosting suspicion that her death
probably was caused by a viral or bacterial infection. One likely culprit could be elephant herpes virus. Kimba's sister
Singgah died Jan. 1, 2000, of the virus as did three other elephants born at the Houston Zoo and shipped to other
facilities. All were Kimba's siblings.
September 7, 2004: Two Elephants Die within Three Days at Zoo in India - The death of different species of animals
in Mysore Zoo, India, including the shocking and unprecedented incident of two elephants felled in mysterious
circumstances within three days between September 4 and 7, 2004, have prompted doctors in the Zoo to resort to
administering tablets of activated charcoal to the remaining elephants as a precautionary measure to prevent the further
adverse toxic effects of unknown nature. Zoo management suspects contamination from grass supplied from outside
the Zoo.
October 16, 2004: Tuberculosis Suspected in Lincoln Park Zoo Elephant's Death - A 35-year-old female African
elephant at Lincoln Park Zoo died over the weekend, possibly from a previously undiagnosed case of tuberculosis, zoo
officials announced. Tatima died Saturday morning in her indoor habitat in the Regenstein African Journey exhibit in
the Chicago zoo, officials said. Preliminary findings from a necropsy indicate the elephant likely experienced
complications from tuberculosis, which probably had started to affect her joints and internal organs, officials said.
See incidents: January 17, 2005; May 1, 2005
December 7, 2004: Calgary Zoo's Baby Elephant Dies - An around-the-clock effort to save a sick baby Asian elephant
that gained international attention after the newborn was rejected by her 14-year-old mother last month ended Tuesday
when the calf unexpectedly slipped into a coma and died at the Calgary Zoo. The three-week-old calf, name Keemaya
posthumously, had developed an infection that required antibodies and a plasma transfusion. The infection did not go
away and the elephant developed internal ulcers. An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death.
December 14, 2004: African Elephant Dies at Los Angeles Zoo - A female African elephant, which collapsed and died
at the Los Angeles Zoo this week, suffered a heart attack, officials said on Wednesday. Zoo officials said a preliminary
inquiry showed that 39-year-old Tara died of "acute heart failure" shortly after she was found collapsed in her yard on
Tuesday morning. Animal rights activists rejected that explanation, stating it was more likely that medication for
arthritis had strained Tara's heart and liver, underscoring the risks of confining the large mammals in urban zoos.
January 17, 2005: Second Lincoln Park Zoo Elephant, Peaches, Dies - North America's oldest captive elephant,
brought to Lincoln Park Zoo amid protests that Chicago's climate was too cold, has died. The 55-year-old female
African elephant named Peaches was found Monday morning collapsed on the floor of her indoor pen, her eyes
unfocused and her breathing "labored," officials said. Veterinarians euthanized Peaches Monday evening. Zoo
officials rejected animal rights activists' charges that cold weather and lack of indoor exercise space contributed to the
elephant's death. In a statement, the zoo said it is "likely" the elephant died "from complications due to old age."
Peaches was sent to Chicago from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in spring 2003 with Wankie and Tatima, another
African elephant. Tatima died last October at age 35 in what zoo officials suspect was tuberculosis.
See incidents: October 16, 2004; May 1, 2005
January 31, 2005: Birmingham Zoo's Elephant Dies - Susie, an Asian elephant who had lived at the Birmingham Zoo
since 1957, has died. She was 55. Suzie died Monday night in her enclosure, and had in recent years been under
medical supervision for health problems such as arthritis, said Zoo spokesman Ed Noles.
February 20, 2005: Elephant Crushes Vienna Zoo Keeper - An elephant at the Vienna Zoo pinned his longtime keeper
to a wall and impaled him with his tusks on Sunday, killing the man who had cared for him since his birth. Zookeeper
Gerd Kohl, 39, was killed as he was showering the elephant, Abu, as part of the morning routine. Abu, an almost 4year-old bull, pinned Kohl to the wall and speared him with his tusks, the statement said. Kohl, who had worked at the
zoo since 1998, had cared for the elephant since his birth there.
March 10, 2005: Brownsville Zoo Loses Elephant - Macho, a 41-year-old male African elephant, died early Thursday
at Gladys Porter Zoo of unconfirmed causes. Just a few days ago Macho seemed as healthy as ever, but the warning
signs began Wednesday afternoon, said zoo general curator Jerry Stones. "He stepped over the rail just like he used to
... but when he got out into the yard, he started dragging his leg," he said. Zookeepers, including Stones, worked with
Macho through the night after he laid down and did not get up for several hours. He died quietly at 5:30 a.m.
Thursday. Macho was brought to Brownsville from Uganda as a 7-year-old.
April 15, 2005: Houston Zoo's Baby Elephant Euthanized - Bella, the Houston Zoo's baby elephant, was put to sleep
earlier today after zoo officials learned that screws used to repair her fractured femur had already dislodged. She was
euthanized at 9:30 a.m. today. Bella would have been eight months old Sunday. Bella had stumbled and fell Tuesday
morning while walking in the elephant yard. Surgeons performed a 2-1/2 hour operation Wednesday and [had been]
pleased with the initial results.
April 24, 2005: Disney's Animal Kingdom's Expectant Elephant Loses Baby at Birth - A baby elephant died late
Sunday afternoon during birth at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom, a company spokeswoman said. The African
elephant died in its mother's womb, said spokeswoman Jacquee Polak. The mother elephant, Ibala, 26, went into labor
early Saturday night after a 22-month gestation period. During the following hours, her contractions lessened, and a
veterinarian had to induce labor. By late Sunday, veterinarians determined through an ultrasound that the baby
elephant had died, Polak said. Polak said the calf would stay inside the mother until it is expelled, which could take up
to a year.
See incident: May 14, 2005
May 1, 2005: Lincoln Park Zoo's Last Elephant is Dead - Wankie, 36, the last of three Lincoln Park Zoo elephants to
die in a six-month period, had an undetected infection that reduced her lung capacity when she was shipped to Salt
Lake City--a journey she did not survive. Zoo officials announced Friday that a preliminary pathology report showed
Wankie had lung lesions that may have been caused by mycobacterium. Another of the zoo's elephants, 35-year-old
Tatima, died in October of an infection of Mycobacterium szulgai, a rare, non-transmissible disease similar to
tuberculosis. Zoo workers euthanized Wankie on May 1, shortly after her arrival at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. She
had collapsed during the two-day transport from Chicago to Utah.
See incidents: October 16, 2004; January 17, 2005
May 14, 2005: Disney World Elephant Dies of Infection - An elephant whose calf died in its womb last month at Walt
Disney World's Animal Kingdom died Saturday from a uterine infection, a company spokeswoman said. Ibala, a 26-
year-old African elephant and a first-time mother, went into labor in late April after a 22-month gestation period. After
several hours, Ibala's labor stalled and veterinarians determined her calf had died. The calf was to stay inside the
mother until she expelled it, said Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak. This week, veterinarians determined Ibala was
continuing to have contractions in an attempt to expel the calf. On Friday, veterinarians performed an emergency
episiotomy and removed the baby elephant. Hours later, Ibala died, Polak said. A necropsy determined she died from
endotoxic shock, a severe infection of the uterus and abdominal cavity, Polak said.
See incident: April 24, 2005
August 4, 2005: Syracuse Zoo's New Baby Elephant Dies - The elephant born Sunday at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at
Burnet Park died Thursday following a swimming pool accident, according to zoo officials. The 345-pound baby
elephant named Kedar died shortly after 6 p.m., about 12 hours after he slipped past his protective adult family
members and dove head-first into the pool, zoo spokeswoman Sarah Fedele said. Four female elephants in the yard
tried to pull him out, then went in after him but forced him into a deeper section of the pool. Elephant collection
manager John Moakler jumped into the pool and lifted Kedar's trunk out of the water, zoo director Ann Baker said. He
pushed the baby to shallow water so he could get out of the pool. The elephant had water in his lungs, a fever and
breathing difficulty throughout the day. His body was sent to Cornell University for tests.
January 25, 2006: National Zoo Euthanizes Ailing Elephant - Toni, a 40-year-old female Asian elephant at the
National Zoo, was euthanized this morning "following a dramatic decline in her physical condition and quality of life,"
zoo officials announced. Toni was increasingly hobbled by arthritis in her front legs, and continued to lose muscle
mass and weight. In recent days, visitors saw her leaning on her trunk in an effort to support herself. Her condition
declined dramatically over the weekend, zoo officials said, and the decision was made yesterday to euthanize her.
March 9, 2006: Woman Injured After Entering Waco Zoo's Elephant Exhibit - A 25-year-old woman climbed past
barriers and into an elephant's exhibit at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, TX, then crawled out with minor injuries after
the three-ton animal smacked her with its trunk. Zoo director Jim Fleshman says the woman said she wanted to play
with the elephant, so she scaled a three-foot wood-and-wire fence and an eight-foot artificial rock structure. She then
bypassed an electric wire before jumping into the exhibit. After the woman got out, fire and emergency crews took her
to a hospital with minor injuries, including scrapes on her side and arm. Waco Fire officials say the woman, whose
name wasn't released, was visiting the zoo with a child and another woman.
June 10, 2006: Elephant Dies at Los Angeles Zoo - Gita, a 48-year-old female Asian elephant, died Saturday in her
enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo. At about 5 a.m., zoo workers found Gita sitting on her haunches, which can
endanger an elephant's life by cutting off circulation and releasing fatal toxins into the 8,000-pound animal's
bloodstream. Veterinarians tried to raise the animal onto her feet, but she died at 9:40 a.m.
July 21, 2006: Elephant Keeper Killed, Director Injured at Tennessee Sanctuary - A female handler was killed and a
director was injured Friday by an elephant at The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN. Lewis County Sheriff
Dwayne Kilpatrick said the attack happened sometime between 11:15 and 11:45 a.m. CDT. The attack happened
quickly, killing Joanna Burke, 36, "on the spot" when Winkie, a female Asian elephant, knocked her down and stepped
on her, said Doug Markham, a spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The director of the
sanctuary, Scott Blais, suffered an ankle fracture and numerous bruises when he tried to intervene and was taken to
Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia. At her previous residence at Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, Wis., Winkie hurt
several staffers and visitors, earning a reputation as a "dangerous elephant," according to her biography on the
sanctuary's website.
See incidents: 1977; July 9, 1998; December 22, 1999
July 24, 2006: Toronto Zoo Elephant Euthanized - Patsy, a 40-year-old female African elephant, was put to sleep after
a period of failing health due to long-term degenerative arthritis in her legs. The arthritis was likely caused by an
earlier injury in a scuffle with another elephant, Toronto Zoo CEO Calvin White said in an interview. "She was in
constant pain," he said. "She was still on exhibit as of (Monday) night, but you could tell she was hurting. She walked
very slow, she would lean against the wall and lean her tusks against the post. She was feeling a lot of pressure." After
several exams determined that there was no chance of further treatment or recovery, Patsy was euthanized.
WILD ELEPHANT INCIDENTS
January 18, 1989: In the Vypeen Island, one of three elephants returning after participating in a temple festival went
wild and had to be killed. The elephant attacked an elephant behind her who collapsed on the spot. The third elephant
who was in the rear also went out of control and ran for some distance.
September 10, 1996: Wildlife photographer Peter Beard was traveling in Keekorok in the Masai Mara Game Reserve,
110 miles SW of Kenya, when one of four elephants that he approached to photograph charged him. He suffered a
fractured pelvis and thigh injuries after he was tossed by the elephant.
September 18, 1997: A young bull elephant trampled an 86 year old man in his hut at the Mutjiku village in the West
Caprivi. The man, a member of the Kxoe community in the West Caprivi, died from hemorrhage and shock from
multiple injuries. The Kxoe are blaming the rival tribe Mbukushu, who are illegally encroaching areas previously
reserved for elephants and other game.
July 1, 1998: An elephant named Raja was being taken from a temple to a nearby park in Colombo, Sri Lanka, when
she became annoyed and escaped after breaking the chains on her feet. The elephant strayed along the road causing
panic among motorists and a major traffic jam. A Buddhist monk was able to calm the elephant with a bag of toffees
and bread.
July 1, 1998: A tuskless male elephant was captured by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in South India because he
was raiding crops and had reportedly killed 19 people. The elephant was 40-years-old when he was shot with a
tranquilizer gun, severely gored by five trained elephants, drugged, beaten, and dragged in chains for eight days by road
to the Elephant Camp in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
October 25, 1998: A German tourist ,who was playing golf, was killed after sustaining severe head injuries while
being trampled by an elephant. It is thought that the elephant broke through a fence from the neighboring Kruger
National Park.
December 27, 1998: An elephant that had trampled to death 19 people over the past 1 1/2 years was killed by hunters
assigned to the Forestry Department. The bull elephant, named Gobindra Singh, was declared a rogue after he killed a
Forestry Department veterinarian. The vet had tranquilized him for a medical check; the elephant suddenly awakened
and charged the veterinarian.
August 12, 1999: Cambodian Farmer Kills Elephant, Sells Calf - A Cambodian farmer was arrested for killing an
elephant and selling her calf, but was released after he paid about half his profit in fines, according to the Associated
Press. The farmer told police that he shot the calf's mother by accident when he opened fire on a herd of elephants that
had been grazing on his crops every night. He sold the calf for $460 at a local market. Later they discovered the calf
was resold for $1800 to a government official with a private zoo.
August 15, 1999: Thailand Work Elephant Injured by Landmine - Motola, a 38-year-old elephant, stepped on a
landmine in the jungle in Myanmar, Thailand. She was foraging for food while taking a break from hauling logs.
Motola underwent a lengthy operation to save her leg. She is recovering at the Hang Chat Elephant Hospital in
Lampang, Thailand.
October 20, 1999: Drunken Elephants Rampage, Killing Four in Indian Village - Wild elephants broke into a cluster of
thatched huts, guzzled rice beer fermenting in casks and then tore the village apart in a drunken rampage, trampling
four people to death and injuring six. The herd of 15 elephants descended Wednesday on the village of Prajapatibosti,
180 miles east of Gauhati, state capital of northeastern Assam. Elephant expert Kushal Konwar Sharma said at least
100 people have been killed in elephant attacks during the past year in Assam, where 5,000 wild elephants are
estimated to be living.
December 6, 1999: Vietnamese Farmer Killed by Wild Elephants - A farmer has been trampled to death by wild
elephants in central Vietnam, the sixth person to be killed by pachyderms in a single province since May, a local
official said today.
January 8, 2000: Jumbo Show Ends in Tragedy in India - A jumbo show designed to find a place in the Guinness
Book of World Records ended in chaos with untrained baby elephants running amok, killing one person and injuring
several others. Utter confusion prevailed for hours at Thodupuzha in Idukki district, with tension-riven drivers, wellcaparizoned elephants and mahouts jamming the roads and bylanes. Seven baby elephants shrugged off all control over
them and ran amok. A baby tusker smashed an Ambassador car, a Maruti car and an autorickshaw. He was finally
given a tranquilizer and brought under control.
February 14, 2000: Hungry Elephant Goes on Rampage in Bangkok - A bull elephant went berserk in the heart of
Bangkok, causing three hours of chaos as police and zoologists chased it and tried to stop it with tranquilizer shots.
The four-ton elephant, known as Plai Rung-reung, was hungry and exhausted from walking along the busy streets,
begging for money for its handler, a common practice.
August 29, 2000: Wild Elephant Goes Berserk in Indian City; Traffic Halted - A wild, panicked elephant trampled
rickshaws and cars in a confused frenzy during morning rush hour Tuesday after frightened commuters pelted the
animal with sticks and stones. The chaos began when the elephant, a full-grown tusker estimated to weigh four tons,
entered Gauhati, Assam's state capital, after swimming across the Brahmaputra River, police officer Dharani Deka said.
The pachyderm "was sitting in the middle of a main thoroughfare," Deka said. "Soon thousands of people with sticks
and stones started jeering the elephant, forcing the animal to panic and turn berserk." Traffic halted for more than an
hour. Eventually the elephant made it back to the river and swam to the other side.
September 2, 2000: American Tourists Killed, Injured by Elephant in Namibia - A wild elephant killed one American
tourist and injured another during a wildlife tour in remote northwestern Namibia, officials said Monday. Dean Hall
was killed instantly and Dr. A. Said suffered a broken arm and a knee injury when a rare desert elephant charged a
group of tourists trying to photograph it in the Huab River Valley on Saturday. Hall's body was turned over to the U.S.
Embassy, and Said left Sunday night for San Francisco, said Dave van Smeerdijk, managing director of Wilderness
Sararis, the global outfit which led the tour.
September 20, 2000: Baby Tusker Dies - Baby tusker Ganesan, which was hit by a speeding lorry on August 30, died
at the Aluva Veterinary Hospital in the wee hours of Wednesday. He lost one of his tusks, the lower mandible was
seriously injured, and his forelimbs were shattered in the accident. Vets attending to the tusker said that Ganesan had
not been eating for the last two days and had survived on dextrose and heavy doses of painkillers.
October 2, 2000: Airline Held Up by Elephant on Runway - An Indian airliner was forced to circle an airport until a
wild elephant on the runway was scared off. The elephant entered the airport at Gauhati in Assam after breaking
through a wall. Fireworks and flares were used to scare the animal away and allow the Indian Airlines Airbus to land.
Villagers were then posted around the airport perimeter to beat drums if the elephant reappeared, the Sydney Morning
Herald reports.
October 5, 2000: Elephant Hit by Car in Thailand - A cow elephant has broken its hind legs after it was hit by a car in
a Bangkok street. The mahout was flung off the animal's back and lost consciousness, said Alongkorn Mahannop, a
veterinarian at Bangkok's Dusit Zoo. Both hind legs of five-year-old Dear were broken in the accident. The mahout
was begging on the streets using the elephant as a prop. Alongkorn said that after the collision, the frightened elephant
stampeded on the street. No one was injured. Dear was later given a tranquilizer before being taken to the zoo for
treatment. While the car that hit Dear was damaged, it is not clear what happened to the driver.
October 13, 2000: Two People Killed When Fuel Truck Explodes After Hitting Elephant - Two people have been
killed in Thailand when a fuel tanker overturned and burst into flames after hitting an elephant. The driver of the truck
and a passenger died in the accident near a conservation center in the north of the country, but the elephant, which was
believed to have suffered a broken leg, survived. The elephant fled after the accident and police say they are looking
for it and that its owner will be liable for the damage it caused.
October 30, 2000: Elephants Block Highway, Kill Man - Wild elephants blocked a highway in southeastern
Bangladesh and killed a man who tried to scare them away, police said. "A herd of some 35 elephants killed farmlaborer Nurul Alam and blockaded the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway for three hours," senior police official in
Chittagong, Mohammad Tareque, told Reuters. The herd occupied the highway at Dargagate, 120 km (75 miles) south
of Chittagong, after wandering down from nearby jungle late on Saturday. Dozens of vehicles were stranded until the
herd was driven off by police firing shots into the air and villagers blowing trumpets, witnesses said.
November 18, 2000: Wild Elephants Attack Indian Air Force Bases - Herds of elephants are wreaking havoc at Indian
Air Force bases in the northeastern state of Assam, lumbering across busy runways and putting hi-tech equipment in
jeopardy. "In the course of their stay, the elephants destroy the paddy fields and granaries, even trespass inside
airfields," said Dinesh Chaudhary, an eminent elephant expert. It is impossible to drive the herds numbering in the
fifties, or even hundreds of animals, back into the forest, he said. The Indian Air Force plans to tackle the elephant
menace by razing the forest near its Tezpur airbases close to the Chinese border.
November 29, 2000: Wild Elephants Kill, Rampage - Rogue elephants have killed and destroyed vast tracts of crops
on 44 farms in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, according to the country's This Day newspaper. The elephants went
on the rampage through the Gwoza municipality of Borno state in what was said to be the worst such incident in 37
years. Lawan Gwaigwai, the head of the worst-affected village of Dire, said that three people had been trampled to
death by the marauding beasts. It is unclear what sparked the latest rampages.
December 31, 2000: Indian Elephant Tramples Man and Keeps the Corpse - A wild elephant pulled a man down from
a tree, trampled him to death and for two weeks has refused to part with the corpse, police in northeast India said on
Sunday. The man climbed the tree to escape a herd of wild elephants rampaging through his village about 80 miles
from Guwahati, the largest city in Assam. One elephant grabbed him, pulled him to the ground and broke his legs.
"The elephant must have got even more irritated as the villagers were trying to free the man," a forest ranger said. "It
trampled him to death and took the body along with him." That was two weeks ago and it has been carrying the body
around ever since, police said.
January 7, 2001: Elephant Tramples American Tourist - An American woman was trampled to death by an elephant in
a Tanzanian national park, officials said. Natalie Waldinger, 24, of Huntington, N.Y., died Sunday in Ruaha National
Park in central Tanzania, during a break in her tour as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teacher in this east African nation.
Ms. Waldinger and a roommate were traveling with a driver - who was not an official guide - when the two women left
their car to photograph the wild animal, Lota Melamari, chief of the Tanzania National Parks Authority, said. The
sound of metallic clicks from their cameras enraged the elephant, which charged them, she said. The second woman
scrambled to safety and was badly shaken but uninjured.
March 23, 2001: Elephant Shot After Killing Woman in South Africa - An elephant trampled a woman to death near a
wildlife park in northeastern South Africa, police said Friday. Ngwahlandei Lungwani, 50, and her husband were
walking in a field near the Kruger National Park when the elephant emerged from a thicket and attacked them, said
police spokesman Moatshe Ngoepe. The couple ran in separate directions. The elephant followed the woman, while
her husband ran to a nearby school to seek help. Police later found Lungwani's body, crushed and torn apart. The
elephant was found several hours later and killed. It was unclear what the elephant was doing outside the park fence.
March 24, 2001: Elephant Shot After Pushing Over Game Viewing Vehicle - An enraged bull elephant pushed over a
game-viewing vehicle carrying eight tourists and attacked a buffalo in the Kruger National Park on Saturday, forcing
rangers to shoot it dead. Park spokesman William Mabasa said on Monday that the elephant, which was between 20
and 25 years old, may have been aggressive because of a painful abscess at the base of one of its tusks. "[The elephant]
just rolled the vehicle, but the people escaped with minor injuries," he said. All of the tourists were taken by rangers to
a park doctor. Other rangers went in search for the elephant and on the way found a buffalo that had been gored by
him. The buffalo was shot dead because of the severity of its injury. The rangers then continued to follow a trail of
trees that had been destroyed in the elephant's path until they found the animal and shot it dead for fear that it could
attack people again.
April 13, 2001: Wild Elephant Kills Man and Wife, Injures Daughter - A man, his wife and their daughter were
walking home after a fishing trip near Dungun, Malaysia, when they were attacked by a wild elephant in a forest about
270 miles northeast of Kuala Lumpur. Ismail Abdul Rahman and his wife, Aliah Ishak, both 59, were killed. Their
daughter, Siti Aminah Ismail, 36, was injured in the attack and is being treated at the state hospital in Dungun. Siti
Aminah told the Bernama news agency that she warned her parents of the presence of the elephant. The animal
suddenly charged at them, grabbing her father with its trunk and throwing him to the ground. It also came toward her,
pushing her with its trunk before turning to her mother. "I saw my mother running away with the elephant in pursuit. I
thought she would escape," she said.
May 30, 2001: Elephant Dies After Being Hit by Train - An Indian elephant has died after being hit by a train. The 15year-old animal, which is thought to have weighed around six tons, was hit by the Mussoorie Express train in
Kharkhari, Rajaji Park, India. National park officials have told the Newspaper Today it took the elephant days to die
after the crash. It is not known whether any passengers were injured in the collision.
July 18, 2001: Temple Elephant Kills Woman in India - A female elephant ran berserk and caused the death of an aged
woman who used to give it bananas every morning, district police said on Thursday. Gomathiammal (65) succumbed
to injuries received when Andal, the 26-year-old temple elephant, ran amok during her morning stroll at Alagarkoil,
near Madurai. Andal stomped the woman, who was sitting on a stone-step. Andal was eventually calmed down by its
mahout Chandrasekhar after an hour-long effort.
August 10, 2001: Elephant Tramples German Sarari Tourist to Death in Africa - A German tourist in Kenya has been
trampled to death by an elephant as he tried to take its photograph. The unidentified tourist, on an African Safari Club
holiday, was walking with his wife and son when the attack happened. The attack happened near the Voi River when
the family had gone for an unsupervised walk from their campsite. An official at the Kenya Wildlife Service confirmed
the death, but would not release any additional information.
August 12, 2001: Elephant Tramples Two to Death in Africa - A mother and daughter believed to be Mozambican
immigrants were killed by an elephant while trying to enter the country illegally through the country's biggest wildlife
park, officials said on Wednesday. "An elephant trampled a mother and her daughter to death on Sunday night in the
Kruger Park. They were part of a group of 14 people whom we believe were illegal immigrants from Mozambique,"
park spokesperson William Mabasa said. This was the fourth known incident in five years in which animals, mostly
lions, have killed illegal immigrants in the park, according to Mabasa.
August 21, 2001: Wild Elephants Maul Three to Death in India - A herd of wild elephants have overrun a sleeping
village in India and killed a woman and two children. Five more people were injured by the rampaging animals in the
incident in Orissa state. An estimated 16 wild elephants from a nearby forest attacked Khireitangi village without any
apparent provocation. Forest officials say 35 mud houses were damaged by the elephants, reports the Indo Asian News
Service.
September 11, 2001: Rampaging Elephants Kill Two in India - Two people have been killed by rampaging elephants
in separate incidents near a wildlife sanctuary in eastern India. Forest department officials say the animals are raiding
villages due to a good rice crop in West Bengal state. One trampled to death 50-year-old farmer Loko Majhi while he
was ploughing while Muchi Singh was killed in Jaratola. Earlier an elephant wounded a woman from Asanboni village
while she was collecting firewood. Authorities have announced compensation of around 1,400 pounds for the families
of the dead.
October 16, 2001: Tuskers Turn on Pursuers, Two Killed in India - Man-animal conflict claimed the lives of two
persons in Purulia district on Tuesday evening and left an elephant badly injured and writhing in agony. The two were
killed - and two injured - when villagers of Bhakuadih village, under Hjaldah police station, tried to chase three tuskers
away from their crop fields. As the villagers beat drums and set off fire crackers, the nervous elephants tried to flee.
When one of the elephants fell into a well, the other two turned on the people. Bhusan Mahato, 67, and Sarala Mahato,
62, died on the spot. Samjhoti Mahato, 58, and Sankar Pramanik, 17, have been admitted to Purulia sadar hospital in
critical condition.
January 14, 2002: Wild Elephants Kill 17 in Chhattisgarh, India - Wild elephants have killed at least 17 people in a
week and destroyed hectares of crops in Surguja, Jashpur and Raigarh districts of Chhattisgarh. The state government
has summoned experts from Hyderabad and Bangalore to catch and tame the wild elephants which have migrated from
the neighboring Jharkhand jungles. The wild elephants enter villages in search of mahua (Bassia latifolia) flowers,
which are used for making country liquor in tribal Chhattisgarh.
January 23, 2002: Herd of Elephants Tramples Chasing Soldiers in Bangladesh - A herd of wild elephants has turned
on soldiers who were chasing them back to a forest, killing one man and wounding another in Bangladesh. The attack
occurred on Wednesday after an army patrol was called to stop the rampaging elephants and drive them back to a forest
in Rangamati district. In a counter attack the elephants trampled two of the soldiers.
January 28, 2002: 100-Year Old Cambodian Elephant Crushes Keeper - A Cambodian man was trampled to death by
an elephant he was trying to feed, a local newspaper reported on Monday. Ta Horn, 65, was helping look after 100year-old elephant Srei Pov last week when the elephant turned on him. "According to the villagers, the man was
knocked down and trampled on by the elephant until he died after he tried to offer the animal sugarcane," the Koh
Santepheap daily reported. The elephant, who was living in a military camp on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, was sent
to Cambodia's national zoo after the incident. Villagers said Srei Pov seriously injured another person last month in the
same manner.
June 1, 2002: Wild Elephants Trample to Death Indonesian Worker in Malaysian Plantation - An Indonesian worker
was trampled to death by five wild elephants at a Malay oil palm plantation on Saturday, police said. One of the
elephants used its trunk to drag Sharifuddin Ghani, 23, from his home before the herd of animals stamped on him at a
remote plantation in Temerloh, about 55 miles east of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, a police spokesman said on condition
of anonymity. Sharifuddin, who worked at the plantation, died soon after he was rushed to hospital with serious head,
back and arm injuries.
June 16, 2002: Farmer Killed by Elephant in Africa - A 60-year-old man was killed by a rogue elephant as he guarded
his crops in Laikipia District. Mr. Stephen Muiru Gathura was trampled by the animal which had strayed from the 110acre Ol-Pejeta Ranch. The villagers found the body in an opening on the ground where the animal had buried it. They
said Gathura had gone to his farm at 5am to guard his maize, potatoes and beans. Marauding elephants and buffaloes
straying from the private ranch have been destroying the crops.
June 23, 2002: Wild Elephant Kills Another Man in Laikipia District - Mr. Jarso Dima, a father of six, was walking
home from the Mount Kenya Game Ranch where he worked as a security officer when he was trampled to death by a
rogue elephant near the Kenya Army barracks in Nanyuki.
June 25, 2002: Rogue Elephant Shot by Hunter After Killing 13 People Over Two Days - A hunter on Tuesday killed a
frenzied elephant that had crushed to death 13 villagers in just over two days along the India-Nepal border, officials
said. The elephant killed nine people in an Indian border village on Sunday, and three more after crossing over into
Nepalese territory. The elephant was shot hours after it had trampled to death its 13th victim in the dense forests of
Giridhara in India's West Bengal state.
July 9, 2002: Wild Bull Tramples Woman in Africa - Elephant tracks surrounded the body of a Bloemfontein woman
who was apparently trampled by an elephant bull when she went for a lone walk in the bush along the Limpopo River.
The body of Vinkie Malan, 46, was found after a five-hour search on Samaria farm near Pontdrif. She lay on her
stomach and was badly bruised. Her hips appeared to have been broken, said one of the farmers who found her. A
herd of bachelor elephant bulls could be heard in the bushes.
July 22, 2002: Wild Elephant Kills Kenya Tourist - A 50-year-old Swedish woman was trampled to death by an
elephant while visiting Mount Kenya game park in central Kenya, wildlife officials said. The elephant got hold of
Ingegerd Zetterlund with its trunk, tossed her in the air and trampled her to death when she fell to the ground, a
spokesperson for the Kenya Wildlife Service said. Zetterlund's husband and a tour guide accompanying them managed
to flee from the rampant elephant.
August 6, 2002: Rogue Elephants Kill Man in Voi - Mr. Godfrey Mshamba Mwambui died at Moi Hospital in Voi
Town while undergoing treatment for injuries received when he was attacked by marauding elephants as he was going
home in the evening at Paranga, Tausa Division. Local chief Joseph Mchalongo said the elephants, numbering about
100 and from the Tsavo East National Park, had been besieging the area and children were not even going to school.
August 9, 2002: Fatal Fall for Pachyderm Leads to Attack on Veterinary Assistant - The carcass of a one-year-old
pachyderm was found by the State forest officials near Kallarbadiala estate of Mettupalayam forest range in
Coimbatore district yesterday. Official sources said the pachyderm had fallen into a deep pit while accompanying its
herd and had died on August 7th. After the anti-poaching team found the calf dead in the pit, they rushed a doctor to
the spot. But the team had a tough time in retrieving the carcass, as the elephant herd was surrounding the pit. To
disperse the herd, the officials fired plastic bullets in the air. But while retrieving the carcass, three elephants, hiding in
the vicinity, attacked the team. A veterinary assistant was injured and the officials had to fire seven rounds of plastic
bullets in the air before conducting the post-mortem.
August 13, 2002: Wild Elephant Kills Traditional Leader - A traditional leader in chieftainess Mwape's area in Nyimba
district has been trampled to death by an elephant. The man was killed when he went to fetch reeds to make mats along
the river bank. Area councillor Adamson Zulu has since blamed the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZWA) workers for
failing to control the elephants when the matter was reported to their office. "The elephant was reported to ZWA a long
time ago and this death could have been avoided if they took measures to protect the lives of the residents," he said.
October 7, 2002: 22 Hurt as Train Hits Elephant - Twenty-two people were slightly hurt Monday when a passenger
train in Zimbabwe veered off the rails after hitting an elephant in Hwange, a railway official said. Police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena said the accident occurred early morning and the injured had been taken to a hospital in Hwange,
480km west of the capital, Harare. Trains due to take the same route have been cancelled for the time being.
November 20, 2002: Wild Elephants Kill Five in Bangladesh - Wild elephants have killed at least five people, injured
10 others and made about 500 people homeless in southeastern Bangladesh over the past month, officials said. In the
latest attack, elephants killed a man on Tuesday and destroyed 10 houses at Ramu in Cox's Bazar district, 262 miles
from the capital Dhaka. Forest rangers said the latest death brought to five the number of people killed in Cox's Bazar
and Chittagong districts over the past month, taking the toll since January to 25.
December 13, 2002: Wild Elephants Kill Six Persons in Assam - Six persons, including a woman and four children,
were trampled to death and three others injured by a herd of wild elephants in upper Assam's Tinsukia district, official
sources said on Saturday. The pachyderms came to Duamara tea estate on Friday and trampled people living in the
labor lines of the garden. Prior to their rampage in the tea estate, the tuskers had damaged several huts and destroyed
standing crops in the area during their movement in search of food due to shrinkage of their habitats. The injured had
been admitted to hospital, the sources added.
December 15, 2002: Photographer Killed by Wild Elephants in Orissa - A photographer who was trying to get rare
shots of marauding elephants went too close to the animals for comfort. Ram Achandra Mallik was killed by one of the
five elephants that went on the rampage Sunday in Naharkanta village on the outskirts of the Orissa capital, said a
forest official. A female elephant chased Mallik and attacked him with her trunk. Mallik died on the spot, the forest
official said.
January 7, 2003: Biologist in Africa Injured by Elephant - Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) biologist Mike Fay,
best known for his 2,000 mile-long "Megatransect" across the Congo Basin, survived an attack by an African elephant
last week while trekking through a national park in Gabon. Fay received lacerations on his arms and legs, including a
puncture through his right bicep. The elephant charged a group Fay was leading through Loango National park on
Gabon's coast. Fay is currently recovering in the capital city of Libreville.
January 23, 2003: Angry Temple Elephant Kills its Keeper in Southern India - An angry elephant has killed its keeper
and marauded through a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The incident happened in the coastal city of Cochin
as the animal was being led back from a ceremony at a Hindu temple. Eyewitnesses say the elephant suddenly turned
on keeper Gopalakrishna Pillai, lifting him with its trunk and smashing him against a wall. Police and thousands of city
residents watched helplessly as the elephant continued to toss the man's dead body for hours until a wildlife official
arrived and shot the animal with a tranquillizer gun.
February 2, 2003: Temple Elephant Kills Mahout in India - An elephant which went wild killed one of its mahouts,
knocked down three vehicles and pulled down the roofings of three structures besides causing traffic block for hours at
Chalakkal on the Aluva-Perumbavoor road on Sunday. The mahout was identified as Thankachan (35), hailing from
Muvvattupuzha. The tusker, Mohanan, returning from a festival at a Muslim pilgrim center at Aluva, turned violent
after its principal mahout, Balan, was hit by an autorickshaw.
April 7, 2003: Elephant Kills Tamer in Indonesia - An elephant gored its tamer to death in front of hundreds of football
fans at a sports stadium in Yogyakarta, Central Java. The 35-year-old M. Saleh died after receiving a head wound from
the elephant. Antara news agency quoted eye-witnesses as saying that the incident occurred shortly after Saleh had put
his head in the mouth of the pachyderm as part of an intermission show. The elephant suddenly became furious,
twisted Saleh out of its mouth and gored him in the head. Saleh reportedly died on the way to a nearby hospital.
December 4, 2003: Pennsylvania Woman Killed by Elephant in Africa - Heather Uber, a 55-year old mother of four,
was killed by a rampaging elephant while visiting a wildlife park in Cameroon with her husband and daughter. Uber,
of Point Breeze, PA, suffered internal injuries when she was knocked down by the elephant, which suddenly charged at
the group from a distance of about 40 feet.
March 9, 2004: Wild Elephant Killed After Injuring Tourist in Kruger National Park - A British tourist sustained
minor injuries when an elephant attacked him in the Kruger National Park on Tuesday, nature reserve spokesperson
Raymond Travers said. The elephant was shot dead. John Anslow from Stafford in the United Kingdom and a group
of other foreign tourists were on a day walk in the wilderness and had been observing a breeding herd of elephants
when "out of nowhere, an elephant charged us from behind," said guide Gordon Ramsden. Anslow's left leg was
injured and he sustained an open wound to the shoulder.
March 30, 2004: Tour Guide Killed by Wild Elephant at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park - Fortune Mkhize, 27, was leading a
group of four tourists from the Mdindini Trails base camp in South Africa when he was attacked and crushed to death
by a raging elephant. The rest of the wilderness trail group retreated to safety. Their hike, which was to have lasted
until Friday afternoon, has been cancelled.
May 4, 2004: African Park Elephant Destroyed after Killing Ecologist - Kay Hiscocks, 42, the only full-time ecologist
on the 65,000-hectare Sabi Sands reserve, was killed when an adult elephant cow cornered and trampled her 40 meters
from the world-famous Lion Sands Lodge in Mpumalanga. Hiscocks, who had worked at the reserve for 10 years and
held a certificate in "dangerous game theory," was reportedly trying to herd the cow and two bull elephants away from
the lodge at the time. "After establishing that the elephant posed a risk to guests and staff ... it was destroyed," said
Lion Sands' co-owner, Nicholas More.
July 1, 2004: Ride Elephant Tramples South Korean Tourist in Cambodia - An enraged elephant in remote
northeastern Cambodia has trampled a South Korean tourist who tried to take its photograph, a report said. Chong
Huisit, 29, suffered broken ribs and other injuries when the beast turned on him on Thursday, just before it was
supposed to take him for a ride in jungle-clad Ratanakiri province, the Cambodia Daily reported. Huisit was airlifted to
Phnom Penh for treatment. The elephant handler and his son reportedly stopped the attack by beating the elephant with
an iron hook. Cambodia is home to hundreds of elephants, only several dozen of which are domesticated. Some of the
pachyderms are used in the kingdom's growing tourism industry.